UC-NRLF 


T>S 


UNIVERSITY  FARM 


SF2.07 


Little  Sketches  of 

Famous  Beef 

Cattle 


By 


Charles  S.  Plumb,  B.  Sc. 


Professor 

of 

Animal 
Husbandry 

in  the 

Ohio  State 
University 


Columbus,  Ohio 

Published  by  the  Author 

1904 


Copyright,  1904 
by  CHARLES  S.  PLUMB 


THE   DROVERS   JOURNAL    PRESS 
CHICAGO,  ILL. 


UNIVERS 

01 

' 


'  i 

**S 


TABLE    OF  CONTENTS 


I     Shorthorn      bull      "Hubback" 

(319)     5 

II      Shorthorn      bull       "Favorite" 

(252)     8 

III  Shorthorn  cow  "Duchess  1st" 

(E.  H.  B.) 12 

IV  Shorthorn      bull      "Duke      of 

Northumberland"    (1940)...  15 
V      Shorthorn       cow       "Isabella" 

(E.  H.  B.) 18 

VI      Aberdeen-Angus      cow      "Old 

Grannie"  (1)    21 

VII      Aberdeen-Angus     bull    "Pan- 
mure"    (51)    24 

VIII     Aberdeen-Angus  bull  "Young 

Viscount"  (736)   181 28 

IX     Aberdeen-Angus     cow     "Jilt" 

(973)    422 32 

X     Hereford      bull      "Sovereign" 

(404)    221 36 

XI     Hereford     bull     "Sir     David" 

(349)    68    39 

XII     Hereford   bull   "Lord  Wilton" 

(4740)    4057    43 

XIII  Shorthorn  bull  "Champion  of 

England"    U7526)    47 

XIV  .   Shorthorn  cow  "Young  Mary"  51 
XV     Aberdeen -Angus    bull    "Black 

Knight"    (4751)    55 

XVI     Hereford     bull     "The     Grove 

3d"    (5051)    2490    59 

XVII  Shorthorn  bull  "Duke  of  Air- 

drie"  (12730)   9798 62 

XVIII  Shorthorn  cow  "10th  Duchess 

of  Geneva"  (E.  H.  B.) 66 

XIX     Aberdeen-Angus      bull      "Ab- 

botsford"    (5411)    2702 70 

XX     Hereford  bull  "Dale"  66481.  .  .74 
XXI     Shorthorn     bull     "Gay     Mon- 
arch" 92411   78 

XXII     Hereford       bull       "Corrector" 

48976    82 

XXIII  Shorthorn    bull    "Young    Ab- 

botsburn"  110679   86 

XXIV  Aberdeen-Angus    cow    "Lady 

of  Meadowbrook"  21466 91 

XXV     Galloway  bull  "Scottish  Stand- 
ard"  (6488)   15221    95 

—3— 


185890 


PREFACE 


This  series  of  sketches  of  beef  cattle 
was  originally  published  in  THE  CHICAGO 
DAILY  DROVERS  JOURNAL,  under  the 
title  of  "Little  Sketches  of  Famous  Cat- 
tle." They  were  written  at  the  request 
of  the  publisher  of  that  excellent  journal, 
and  were  intended  mainly  for  students 
in  animal  husbandry,  such  as  are  found 
in  our  agricultural  colleges,  and  for  such 
readers  as  were  interested  in  breed  his- 
tory. As  the  title  implies,  these  sketches 
were  not  intended  to  be  extended  studies 
of  individuals  and  their  varying  relations 
to  the  breeds,  but  were,  rather,  life 
sketches  giving  the  more  important  rea- 
sons why  the  animals  discussed  became 
famous.  Each  animal  may  be  regarded 
as  a  really  famous  one,  with  important 
historical  breed  connections.  There  are 
hundreds  of  other  famous  animals  dis- 
tributed through  a  century  of  Shorthorn, 
Hereford,  Aberdeen-Angus  and  Galloway 
history.  Some  of  these  are  clearly  enti- 
tled to  a  place  in  the  history  of  beef 
cattle  immortals.  Nevertheless,  the 
twenty-five  sketches  following  in  this 
volume  are  of  animals  that  have  played 
most  important  parts  and  are  clearly  en- 
titled to  the  prominence  here  given  them. 

In  sketches  of  a  number  of  animals 
like  these,  with  so  many  associations 
connected  with  their  various  careers,  it 
is  but  natural  that  errors  should  "occur 
to  some  extent.  The  author,  however, 
has  made  every  reasonable  effort  to  be 
careful  in  statement,  and  it  is  believed 
that  these  sketches  can  be  regarded  as 
fairly  free  from  error  and  prejudice  of 
expression. 

C.   S.  PLUMB, 

Ohio  State  University. 

College  of  Agriculture. 
April,  1904. 

—4— 


HUBBACK 


In  some  respects  this  is  perhaps  the 
most  famous  animal  in  cattle  history. 
This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  many  have 
regarded  him  as  the  first  great  breeding 
bull  of  the  Shorthorn  class  of  cattle.  His 
career  was  unique  and  almost  without  a 
parallel,  which  rather  adds  to  his  his- 
toric interest. 

The  Shorthorn  breed  came  to  its  own 
up  in  northeastern  England,  in  a  beau- 
tiful grazing  region,  particularly  in  the 
counties  of  Yorkshire  and  Durham.  For 
many  years  along  in  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury cattle  of  the  Shorthorn  type,  of 
much  excellence,  were  bred  in  this  part 
of  England,  along  the  valley  of  the  Tees, 
from  which  they  at  first  derived  the 
name  "Teeswater  cattle."  Dutch  and 
Galloway  blood  were  used  somewhat  in 
early  times  on  these  Teeswater  cattle, 
but  it  is  also  probably  true  that  there 
were  herds  bred  with  fair  purity  for 
many  years,  from  which  the  genuine 
Shorthorns  of  to-day  are  descended. 

The  early  type  of  Shorthorn,  we  are 
told,  was  rather  large  and  rangy  and 
lacked  quality,  and  did  not  represent 
the  best  stamp  of  the  feeder. 

About  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury a  bricklayer  named  John  Hunter 
was  a  tenant  farmer  in  the  County  Dur- 
ham. About  1771  he  left  the  farm  and 
moved  to  a  little  village  near  the  city  of 
Darlington,  named  Hurworth.  He  had 
sold  all  his  cattle  excepting  one  beauti- 
ful Shorthorn  cow,  which  he  brought 
with  him  to  his  new  home.  Owning  no 
land,  he  was  obliged  to  graze  her  along 
the  roadsides.  In  1777  she  dropped  a  bull 
calf,  to  a  pure  Shorthorn  bull,  owned  by 
George  Snowdon  of  Hurworth.  It  is  this 
bull  calf  which  afterward  attained  so 
much  fame. 

When  yet  a  calf  Mr.  Hunter  took  the 
cow  and  son  to  Darlington  market  and 
sold  them  to  a  Quaker,  who  the  same 


day  sold  them  to  a  Mr.  Basnett,  a  timber 
dealer.  Ownership  of  the  calf  was  later 
transferred  to  William  Fawcett,  near 
Haughton,  in  the  same  neighborhood. 
Here  he  came  into  active  service  and 
was  used  about  three  years  by  Mr.  Faw- 
cett, he  charging  a  service  fee  of  1  shill- 
ing, or  about  25  cents  American  money. 

Among  the  early  Shorthorn  breeders 
of  this  time  and  in  this  vicinity  was  a 
Mr.  Waistell  and  Robert  and  Charles 
Colling.  Waistell  and  Robert  Colling,  on 
Good  Friday,  1783,  visited  Mr.  Fawcett 
and  tried  to  buy  this  bull.  The  price  was 
10  guineas,  and  they  offered  8,  which  was 
refused.  On  the  next  Sunday  Mr.  Wais- 
tell visited  Fawcett  and  bought  the  bull 
at  the  price  asked.  Returning  home,  he 
,met  Robert  Colling  of  Barmpton  and  told 
him  what  he  had  done.  Then  Colling 
agreed  to  pay  half,  and  thus  have  a 
partnership  in  the  bull,  which  was  ac- 
cepted. These  two  used  the  bull  during 
the  summer  of  1783,  on  about  twenty- 
eight  cows.  In  November,  that  year, 
they  sold  him  to  Charles  Colling  of  Ket- 
ton  for  8  guineas,  and  it  is  claimed  that 
Mr.  Waistell  was  to  have  service  for 
his  cows  as  long  as  Charles  Colling 
owned  him.  In  February,  1784,  Waistell 
sent  a  cow  to  be  bred,  and  Colling  re- 
turned word  the  service  fee  would  be  5 
guineas,  with  which  Waistell  indignantly 
ordered  the  cow  home  unserved.  Colling 
kept  this  bull  for  two  years  in  his  herd, 
and  then  sold  him  to  a  Mr.  Hubback  of 
Northumberland,  from  whom  the  bull  de- 
rived his  name.  He  was  used  in  service 
by  Mr.  Hubback  until  1791,  and  was  vig- 
orous to  the  last. 

Hubback  was  yellow-red  and  white, 
and  history  tells  us  that  he  was  of  the 
smaller,  short-legged,  thick  fleshed  type. 
Coates  described  him  as  having  the 
following  qualities:  "Head  good,  horns 
small  and  fine,  neck  fine,  breast,  well 
formed  and  fine  to  the  touch,  shoulders 
rather  upright,  girth  good,  loins,  belly 
and  sides  fair,  rump  and  hips  extraor- 
dinary, flank  and  twist  wonderful."  He 
was  the  last  calf  of  his  dam.  She  would 
not  breed  again  and  was  sold  to  the 
butcher.  She  has  been  generally  re- 
garded as  a  cow  of  great  handling  qual- 
ity. The  quality  of  Hubback  was  no 
doubt  inherited  from  his  dam. 

There  is  some  difference  of  opinion  as 
to  the  greatness  of  Hubback  as  a  sire. 


For  years  he  had  no  distinction  as  a 
breeuing  bull.  This  was  later  discov- 
ered by  the  Colling-  Bros,  after  he  had 
passed  from  their  possession.  For  years 
he  was  what  would  be  regarded  as  most 
peculiar  to-day — a  nameless  bull.  He, 
however,  left  at  Ketton  a  heifer  called 
Haughton.  She  was  bred  to  Richard 
Barker's  bull  (52),  from  which  came  the 
bull  Foljambe  (263).  This  latter  was 
bred  to  a  number  of  Colling's  best  cows, 
including  a  red-roan  heifer,  Lady  May- 
nard,  and  she  dropped  a  heifer  called 
Phoenix.  Another  daughter  of  Lady 
Maynard  named  Young  Strawberry  was 
bred  to  Foljambe,  from  whence  came  the 
bull  Bolingbroke  (86),  an  animal  of  rare 
merit.  Here  Colling  began  to  inbreed, 
mating  Bolingbroke  to  Phoenix,  from 
which  came  the  bull  Favorite  (252),  one 
of  the  most  extraordinary  of  Shorthorn 
sires  in  past  history. 

There  has  been  more  or  less  of  contro- 
versy over  the  purity  of  the  ancestry 
of  Hubback,  but  the  best  evidence  has  it 
that  he  came  of  pure  Shorthorn  blood. 
Through  his  prepotency  the  Colling  Bros, 
developed  Shorthorns  to  such  a  perfec- 
tion that  they  are  frequently  referred  to 
as  the  founders  of  the  true  Shorthorn 
and  Hubback  as  the  foundation  sire. 
Thomas  Bates,  the  peer  of  any  Short- 
horn breeder  of  the  past,  who  had  seen 
Hubback  and  his  get,  said:  "It  was  the 
opinion  of  all  good  judges  in  my  early 
days  that  had  it  not  been  for  the  bull 
Hubback  and  his  descendants  the  old 
valuable  bieed  of  Shorthorns  would  have 
been  entirely  lost,  and  that  where  Hub- 
back's  blood  was  wanting,  they  had  no 
real  merit,  and  no  stock  ought  to  have 
been  put  in  any  herd  book  of  Shorthorns 
which  had  not  Hubback's  blood  in  their 
veins."  Bates  laid  great  stress  on  his 
superior  quality  as  a  feeder,  and  he  also 
regarded  his  handling  as  better  than  any 
bull  of  his  day. 

No  doubt  Hubback  imparted  to  his  de- 
scendants much  of  his  compactness  of 
form,  his  superior  capacity  to  lay  on 
flesh  evenly  all  over,  and  his  remarkable 
general  quality.  He  may  not  in  truth 
have  been  the  greatest  bull  of  his  time, 
but  so  far  as  history  tells  us,  there  is 
no  record  of  his  equal.  Further,  it  will 
not  be  a  difficult  task  after  these  125 
years  to  trace  back  the  pedigrees  of 
many  Shorthorns  of  to-day  into  the 
blood  of  old  Hubback. 


—7— 


II 


FAVORITE  (252,  E,  H,  B.) 


The  practice  of  in-and-in  breeding  does 
not  meet  with  the  approval  of  the  most 
careful  students  of  live  stock  husbandry. 
Its  persistent  use  is  attended  with  seri- 
ous injury.  It  is  interesting,  in  this 
connection,  to  note  that  the  Shorthorn 
bull  Favorite  (252)  was  apparently  an  ex- 
ception to  this  rule,  as  he  was  a  result 
of  its  application.  Not  only  was  he  an 
example  of  in-and-in  breeding,  but  he 
was  bred  to  his  own  mother,  daughters 
and  sisters  and  descendants  to  such  a 
degree  as  had  heretofore  been  unheard 
of. 

Charles  Colling  of  Ketton,  England,  be- 
comes a  character  in  history  as  a  really 
distinguished  breeder  of  Shorthorns.  By 
many  he  and  his  brother  Robert  are  des- 
ignated as  the  first  great  improvers  of 
the  breed.  Be  that  as  it  may,  they  cer- 
tainly were  the  first  to  become  famous 
for  breeding  Shorthorns  of  marked  merit 
by  the  process  of  in-and-in  breeding. 

Favorite  was  dropped  in  1793.  His 
dam  was  named  Phoenix,  and  she  was  a 
daughter  of  the  bull  Foljambe  (263),  while 
his  sire  was  Bolingbroke  (86),  a  son  of 
Foljambe.  The  dam  of  Foljambe  was 
by  Hubback.  Favorite  was  used  in  the 
herd  of  Charles  Colling  for  many  years, 
with  remarkable  results.  He  lived  to  a 
ripe  old  age,  dying  in  1809,  aged  16  years. 
Favorite  was  a  rather  large  bull  of  a 
light  roan  color.  Both  Coates  and  Wais- 
tell  classed  him  as  very  superior.  The 
latter  referred  to  him  as  "a  gra'nd  beast, 
very  large  and  open,  had  a  fine  brisket, 
with  a  good  coat,  and  as  good  a  handler 
as  was  ever  felt."  The  aam  of  Phoenix 
was  a  very  large  "open-boned  cow, 
coarser  than  her'  dam,  'the  beautiful 
Lady  Maynard.'  "  Favorite  probably 
more  resembled  his  dam  than  gran- 
dam. 

Great  fame  early  came  to  Favorite 
from  his  being  the  sire  of  two  wonderful 


beef  cattle,  the  "Durham  ox"  and  "the 
white  heifer  that  traveled."  The  former, 
from  a  grade  cow,  was  bred  in  1796,  and 
was  among  the  first  calves  got  by  Favor- 
ite. He  was  steered  when  a  calf  and  was 
fed  most  skillfully  by  Colling.  When 
nearly  5  years  old  he  weighed  3024 
pounds,  and  was  sold  for  exhibition  pur- 
poses. He  was  exhibited  in  a  traveling 
carriage,  and  with  such  success  that 
various  offers  for  him  were  refused,  up  to 
$10,000.  He  toured  England  and  Scotland 
for  nearly  six  years,  when,  because  of 
an,  accident  which  dislocated  his  hip,  he 
was  killed.  He  dressed  2620  pounds.  At 
10  years  old  he  weighed  3400  pounds. 

In  1806  Robert  Colling  had  a  pure-bred 
Shorthorn  heifer  dropped,  that  was  sired 
by  Favorite,  and  was  white  in  color.  She 
was  a  twin  with  a  bull  calf,  and  did  not 
breed,  but  became  very  large  and  fat. 
She  was  exhibited  at  many  fairs,  and 
became  known  as  "the  white  heifer  that 
traveled."  It  is  said  that  she  weighed 
about  2300  pounds  alive,  and  it  is  esti- 
mated that  in  the  dressed  carcass  she 
weighed  about  1800  pounds. 

Charles  Colling  desirec  to  concentrate 
good  blood  in  his  herd,  as  much  as  pos- 
sible, so  he  began  in-and-in  breeding, 
with  a  limited  number  of  animals,  with 
Favorite  as  the  central  figure. 

Two  things  conspired  to  make  Favorite 
a  famous  bull.  First,  because  he  was 
the  main  factor  in  Ceiling's  most  un- 
usual process  of  in-and-in  breeding,  and, 
second,  because  his  sons  and  daughters 
and  descendants  became  among  the  most 
famous  animals  of  their  generation. 

Charles  Colling  was  a  most  discrimi- 
nating judge  of  cattle.  He  sought  to 
secure  beauty,  quality  and  early  matur- 
ity, with  light  waste  at  slaughter.  Re- 
ferring to  the  method  of  breeding  fol- 
lowed by  Colling,  the  Rev.  J.  Storer 
makes  interesting  discussion  of  it  in 
"Carr's  History  of  the  Booth  Short- 
horns." He  says:  "Mr.  C.  Colling's  bull 
Bolingbroke,  and  his  cow  Phoenix,  were 
brother  and  sister  on  the  sire's  side  and 
nearly  so  on  the  dams'.  They  were  of 
the  same  family,  and  the  only  difference 
in  descent  was  that  Bolingbroke  was  a 
grandson  of  Dalton  Duke,  while  Phoenix 
was  not.  But  this  apparent  difference, 
slight  as  it  is,  was  not  all  real,  for 
Dalton  Duke  also  contained  some  portion 
of  their  common  blood.  Arithmetically 
stated,  the  blood  of  the  two  being  taken 

—9— 


and  divided  into  thirty-two  parts, 
twenty-nine  of  those  parts  were  of 
blood  common  to  both,  rather  differently 
proportioned  between  them.  Phoenix 
had  sixteen  of  those  parts,  Bolingbroke 
thirteen,  the  latter  having  also  three 
fresh  parts  derived  from  Dalton  Duke, 
which  made  up  the  thirty-two.  Being 
thus  very  nearly  own  brother  and  sis- 
ter, they  were  the  joint  parents  of  the 
bull  Favorite.  That  bull  was  next  put 
to  his  own  mother,  Phoenix,  so  nearly 
related  to  him  on  his  sire's  side  also, 
and  the  produce  was  Young  Phoenix. 
To  this  heifer  Favorite  was  once  more 
put,  she  being  at  once  his  daughter  and 
more  than  his  own  sister,  too;  for  their 
two  sires,  Bolingbroke  and  Favorite, 
were  not  only  as  nearly  as  possible  con- 
sanguineous with  each  other,  but  also 
with  the  cow  Phoenix,  to  which  they 
were  both  put.  The  result  was  Comet 
(155.)  Nor  was  this  all.  The  system  was 
carried  much  further.  The  celebrated 
Booth  bull  Albion  (14)  was  not  only  a 
son  of  the  in-and-in  Favorite-bred 
Comet,  but  his  dam  was  a  granddaugh- 
ter of  Favorite  on  both  sides,  and  de- 
scended besides  from  both  the  sire  and 
dam  of  Favorite." 

Favorite  was  used  very  extensively  on 
his  own  offspring,  and  sired  numerous 
famous  animals,  among  which  may  be 
mentioned  the  Durham  ox,  the  White 
heifer,  Comet  (155),  Daisy  bull  (186), 
Young  Phoenix,  Laura,  Johanna,  Cherry, 
Red  Rose,  Moss  Rose,  Juno,  Marske 
(418),  North  Star  (459),  Styford  (629)  and 
Ketton  1st  (709). 

At  the  dispersal  sale  of  the  Charles 
Colling  herd  in  1810  there  were  sold 
forty-seven  cattle,  three-fourths  of 
which  were  got  by  Favorite  or  Comet 
(155),  his  son,  and  the  balance  of  the 
herd  by  bulls  of  their  get.  Colling  dur- 
ing his  later  career  found  it  necessary 
to  introduce  new  and  foreign  blood  into 
his  herd,  to  renew  the  constitutional 
vigor,  and  so  the  famous  "alloy"  or 
Galloway  blood  was  used.  Yet  the  sale 
was  a  great  success,  in  spite  of  the 
prejudice  which  existed  against  the  in- 
tense in-and-in  breeding  practiced  by 
Colling.  The  forty-seven  head  sold 
brought  an  average  of  about  $750  each, 
while  Comet,  Favorite's  son,  made  the 
record  high  price  up  to  that  time  of 
$5,000. 

In  Lewis  F.  Allen's  "Pedigrees  >of  Eng- 
lish Shorthorn  Bulls  to  Which  American 

—10— 


Shorthorns  Trace"  the  records  show 
thirty  sons  of  Favorite  to  be  recorded 
in  volume  1  of  the  Coates  herdbook.  A 
large  number  of  his  other  descendants 
are  also  registered  therein.  In  fact,  as 
expressed  by  A.  H.  Sanders,  in  his  work 
on  "Shorthorn  Cattle,"  "his  get  were  not 
only  the  most  celebrated  Shorthorns  of 
their  day,  but  his  immediate  descend- 
ants constitute  a  large  percentage  of 
the  entire  foundation  stock  upon  which 
the  herd  book  records  stand."  Most  cer- 
tainly Favorite  is  entitled  to  a  very 
prominent  place  in  Shorthorn  history.- 


—11— 


II 


DUCHESS  1st  iE,  H,  B,» 


Shorthorn  cattle  predominate  among 
the  beef  breeds  in  English-speaking 
countries.  So  extensively  have  Short- 
horns become  distributed  that  they  have 
been  termed  the  "universal  intruders." 

Among  Shorthorn  cattle  no  family  in 
its  past  history  has  received  so  profound 
attention,  none  has  sold  at  such  high 
prices  as  that  known  as  the  Duchess. 
There  have  been  other  famous  Shorthorn 
families,  and  perhaps  better  ones.  Who 
knows?  But  certain  it  is,  never  has 
greater  fame  ever  come  to  a  family  of 
any  breed  of  cattle  than  to  the  Duchess 
of  the  Shorthorns. 

Tradition  has  it  that  for  200  years  cat- 
tle of  this  particular  strain  had  been 
bred  on  the  estate  of  the  Duke  of  North- 
umberland in  northeast  England.  But 
this  is  tradition  only.  History,  however, 
takes  us  back  to  1737,  to  a  red  bull 
calved  that  year,  later  known  as  James 
Brown's  Red  Bull  (97).  In  1784  Charles 
Colling  bought  in  Darlington  market  a 
cow  which  he  named  Duchess.  She  was 
from  the  Stanwick  estate  of  Sir  Hugh 
Smithson,  who  later  became  the  Duke 
of  Northumberland.  She  was  also  known 
as  the  "Stanwick  Duchess"  and  the 
"Stanwick  cow."  It  is  claimed  that  she 
was  sired  by  James  Brown's  Red  Bull, 
which  from  the  years  intervening  is  very 
questionable.  This  cow  was  later  mated 
to  Hubback  (319),  and  from  her  came  a 
heifer  and  a  continuation  of  Duchess 
blood.  This  stock  seemed  to  meet  the 
approval  of  Thomas  Bates,  who  at  that 
time  was  in  the  early  stages  of  his 
career  as  a  Shorthorn  breeder.  In  or 
about  1804  Bates  purchased  for  about 
$500  from  Colling  a  granddaughter  of 
the  Stanwick  Duchess,  named  Duchess, 
by  Daisy  Bull  (186),  4  years  of  age,  and 
out  of  a  cow  by  Favorite  (252),  and  in 
calf  to  Favorite. 

Duchess,  by  Daisy  Bull,  did  not  pro- 
duce any  heifers  while  owned  by  Bates. 
In  1805  she  dropped  the  bull  calf  Ketton 
(709),  that  later  became  famous.  She 
had,  however,  left  a  heifer  in  Ceiling's 
herd  at  Ketton.  This  was  bred  to  Comet 
(155),  a  son  of  Favorite,  and  from  which 
resulted  a  heifer  calf,  that  was  first 
named  Young  Duchess. 

—12— 


Bates  early  became  convinced  of  the 
superior  merit  of  this  Duchess  blood. 
The  original  old  Stanwick  Duchess  was 
described  as  a  "massive,  short-legged 
beast,  breast  near  the  ground,  a  great 
grower,  with  wide  back  and  a  beautiful 
yellowish-red  flaked  color."  The  Duch- 
ess cow  was  a  disappointment  to  Bates, 
so  at  the  closing-out  sale  of  Charles  Col- 
ling in  1810  he  determined  to  secure  the 
red  and  white  heifer  Young  Duchess,  by 
Comet.  Being  afraid  that  the  bidding 
would  be  carried  too  high  if  he  bid  in 
person,  Bates  shrewdly  employed  another 
to  make  the  bids  on  the  Young  Duchess. 
Thus  he  obtained  her  at  183  guineas 
(about  $900).  When  the  Collings  learned 
that  Bates  was  the  purchaser  it  is 
stated  that  they  felt  much  incensed,  and 
Mrs.  Colling  is  reported  to  have  declared 
that  had  they  known  it  was  Bates'  bid 
the  heifer  would  have  cost  him  two  or 
three  times  as  much  before  he  could 
have  gotten  her.  She  was  not  exactly 
one  of  the  plums  of  the  sale,  and  the 
people  about  Halton  castle,  at  that  time 
the  home  of  Bates,  rated  her  as  "shab- 
by." The  father  of  Bates  ridiculed  the 
purchase  of  the  son. 

The  heifer  purchased  as  Young  Duch- 
ess Bates  named  Duchess  1st,  and  inas- 
much as  this  distinguished  breeder  cre- 
ated and  developed  this  family,  she  may 
be  regarded  as  its  foundation  dam. 
"Colonus,"  writing  of  her  in  1882  from 
hitherto  unpublished  manuscript  notes 
made  in  1819-20,  comments  on  her  as  fol- 
lows (National  Live  Stock  Journal,  page 
460) :  "Mr.  Bates'  Duchess  1st  has  good 
head,  horn,  sides  and  flank;  was  only 
fair  in  shoulder  points,  loin,  quarter  and 
touch.  Her  daughter,  Duchess  2d,  by 
Ketton  (who  was  of  Hubback's  color 
yellow  red),  was  only  fair  in  all  the 
above  enumerated  points.  Duchess  3d, 
also  out  of  Duchess  1st,  and  got  by  Ket- 
ton 1st,  had  a  good  head,  horn,  shoulder, 
loin,  side,  flank,  quarter,  and  touch." 

Bates  had  great  faith  in  Duchesses.  In 
1842  he  wrote:  "I  selected  this  tribe  of 
Shorthorns  as  superior  to  all  other  cat- 
tle, not  only  as  small  consumers,  but  as 
great  growers  and  quick  grazers,  with 
the  finest  quality  of  beef."  The  cow&= 
of  this  family  were  especially  famous  as 
large  producers  of  milk,  a  feature  Bates 
repeatedly  referred  to  as  a  point  of  merit. 

Duchess  1st  is  especially  entitled  to 
fame  as  the  substructure  upon  which 
Bates  worked  to  build  up  the  family  of 

—13— 


this  name.  Her  field  was  not  in  the 
show  yard.  There  are  other  Duchesses 
that  have  acquired  much  more  personal 
fame,  notably  Duchess  34th,  Duchess 
38th,  and  Duchess  43d.  There  was  a 
long  line  of  sixty-four  Duchess  females 
between  1808  and  1849,  when  the  chap- 
ter closed  with  Mr.  Bates'  death.  They 
were  the  result  of  intense  in-and-in 
breeding,  and  became  notorious  for  being 
unprolific  so  long  as  untouched  by  other 
blood.  Unquestionably  they  had  merit, 
while  some  of  the  bulls  of  this  family 
and  notably  Duke  of  Northumberland 
(1940)  met  with  the  high  approval  of  the 
critics. 

Duchess  1st  produced  down  to  1819 
four  females,  viz.,  Duchess  2d,  3d,  4tli 
and  5th,  and  one  male,  Cleveland  (146) 
Mr.  Bates  at  one  time  desired  to  breed 
Duchess  1st  to  Robert  Ceiling's  "White 
Bull"  (151)  and  offered  him  a  service  fee 
of  $500,  which  was  refused.  This  bult 
was  of  the  Princess  family,  while  all  of 
the  five  offspring  of  Duchess  1st  were 
strongly  in-and-in  bred  Duchesses. 

Duchess  1st  pased  the  way  of  all  flesh, 
but  she  is  destined  to  live  long  in  his- 
tory as  an  important  factor  in  the  devel- 
opment of  the  nineteenth  century  Short- 
horn as  exemplified  by  Thomas  Bates. 


-H— 


IV 

DUKE  OF  NORTHUMBERLAND 

(1940  E.  H.  B.) 

There  comes  a  time  in  the  life  of  every 
breeder  of  eminence  when  he  reaches 
his  highest  degree  of  success  by  the  pro- 
duction of  one  individual  most  represen- 
tative of  the  lofty  ideals  of  the  critic. 
Thus  the  Duke  of  Northumberland  ap- 
peared as  the  crowning  triumph  in  the 
life  of  Thomas  Bates. 

The  Duke  of  Northumberland  (1940) 
was  calved  Oct.  15,  1835.  He  was  sired 
by  Belvedere  (1706)  and  Duchess  34th 
was  his  dam,  she  being  also  sired  by 
Belvedere.  On  the  maternal  side,  in  a 
direct  line  of  descent,  Duchess  29th  was 
grandam,  Duchess  20th  great  gran- 
dam,  Duchess  8th  great-great-grandam, 
Duchess  2d,  great  great  great  grandam, 
and  she  out  of  Duchess  1st.  Belvedere, 
one  of  the  really  great  bulls  of  his  time, 
was  descended  four  generations  from  the 
cow  Princess,  by  Favorite,  a  cow  of  rare 
character,  whose  breeding  Bates  most 
highly  esteemed.  While  Duke  of  North- 
umberland is  thus  a  distinctively  Duch- 
ess bred  bull,  unquestionably  the  blood 
of  Princess  played  a  significant  part  in 
his  make-up,  as  Bates  intended  that  it 
should.  A  careful  study  of  the  Duke's 
pedigree  for  seven  generations,  however, 
shows  the  necessary  general  pedigree 
strength  to  create  the  individual  of  rare 
quality  and  character. 

The  dam  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
Duchess  34th,  was  an  animal  of  remark- 
able quality  and  conformation,  and  was 
one  of  the  first  show  cows  of  her  time, 
defeating  the  renowned  Necklace  of 
John  Booth  at  the  Royal  show  at  York, 
England,  in  1842.  Duke  of  Northumber- 
land was  a  red  roan  in  color,  and  he  was 
giAren  this  name  by  Mr.  Bates  "to  per- 
petuate the  commemoration  that  it  is  to 
the  judgment  and  attention  of  the  ances- 
tors of  the  present  Duke  of  Northumber- 
land that  this  country  and  the  world  are 
indebted  for  a  tribe  of  cattle  which 
Charles  Colling  repeatedly  assured  me 
was  the  best  he  ever  had  or  ever  saw." 

As  we  go  back  in  the  early  history  of 
breeding  cattle  we  find  that  the  practice 
of  public  exhibition  and  competition  was 
comparatively  recent.  Many  famous  ani- 
mals were  never  seen  in  the  show  ring. 
They,  however,  were  known  to  be  of  cor- 

—15— 


rect  type,  and  they  secured  fame  by 
their  prepotency.  The  Duke  of  North- 
umberland, however,  had  much  fame  in 
the  show  ring.  Mr.  Bates  did  not  exhibit 
his  cattle  often,  but  he  appeared  on 
various  occasions  with  representatives  of 
his  herd.  In  1838,  at  the  Yorkshire  show, 
the  Duke  won  Jirst  place  in  a  class  of 
eight  2-year-olds.  In  1839  at  the  firs1, 
annual  show  of  the  Royal  Agricultural 
society,  held  at  Oxford,  he  was  first 
in  a  class  of  seven.  Referring  to  that 
show,  George  Drewry,  late  herd  man- 
ager of  the  Duke  of  Devonshire,  after 
fifty  years  wrote:  "The  two  things  that 
I  remember  best  at  Oxford  were  the 
Duke  of  Northumberland  and  Duchess 
43d.  These,  I  still  think,  were  the  two 
best  Shorthorns  I  ever  saw." 

An  interesting  incident  occurred  while 
the  Duke  was  being  transported  to  Ox- 
ford. He  was  shipped  by  steamer  from 
Middlesborough  to  London.  The  story 
is  told  that  in  endeavoring  to  lead  the 
Duke  on  the  gang  plank  from  the  steam- 
er to  the  wharf,  he  slipped  and  fell 
across  the  gangway,  where  he  lay.  Bates 
rushed  to  him  and  began  patting  His 
head,  exclaiming:  "Poor  boy!  poor  boy!'' 
There  he  remained  until  relieved,  and 
fortunately  no  harm  was  done. 

In  1839,  referring  to  the  Duke  of 
Northumberland,  Bates  wrote:  "I  can 
state  from  measurements  I  took  of  the 
celebrated  Comet  (155)  that  the  Duke 
was  nearly  double  his  weight  both  at  10 
months  and  at  2  years  old." 

In  the  summer  of  1841  A.  B.  Allen  of 
New  York  made  a  visit  of  a  week  with 
Mr.  Bates  at  his  home  at  Kirklevington. 
In  a  most  interesting  series  of  letters  on 
this-  visit  (National  Live  Stock  Journal, 
1884),  Mr.  Allen  gives  special  attention 
to  the  Duke  of  Northumberland.  He 
made  careful  measurements  of  his  body, 
assisted  by  the  herdsman,  Tommy  Myers. 
He  stood  five  feet  high  at  the  withers, 
was  eight  feet  four  inches  long  from  the 
base  of  the  horn  level  to  the  end  of  the 
rump,  at  the  joining  on  of  the  tail,  "and 
girthed  eight  feet  behind  his  shoulders. 
His  weight  was  estimated  at  2300  pounds. 

The  general  testimony  of  the  critics  is 
that  this  bull  was  a  magnificent  speci- 
men of  the  breed.  Mr.  Allen's  reference 
to  him  is  worth  quoting:  "At  the  open- 
ing of  the  door  to  the  stall  of  the  Duke 
of  Northumberland,  he  made  a  bound 
outside,  with  the  agility  of  a 
deer,  stood  still  and  stared  at 
me  a  moment.  and  then  com- 

—16— 


menced  capering  about  like  a  high-spir- 
ited Arabian  horse,  strongly  reminding 
me,  in  his  action,  fine  points  and  har- 
monious make-up,  of  what  I  had  seen  of 
these  high-cast,  noble  animals.  Then,  as 
he  became  more  quiet,  and  was  led 
around  by  the  herdsman,  I  increasingly 
admired  his  free,  easy  grace  of  move- 
ment and  imposing  presence;  and  after 
thoroughly  examining  him  from  day  to 
day  during  my  stay  at  Kirklevington,  I 
could  but  come  to  the  conclusion  that  he 
was  the  most  perfect  and  magnificent 
animal  of  his  race,  which,  up  to  that 
time,  had  come  under  my  observation. 
Fisher  Hobbs,  a  Booth  man,  and  conse- 
quently not  prejudiced  in  favor  of  Bates 
stock,  as  well  as  other  distinguished 
breeders,  pronounced  the  Duke  of  North- 
umberland the  best  bull  of  his  day  in 
all  England,  and  I  believe  no  one  has 
yet  gainsaid  that  decision." 

The  Duke  was  especially  commended 
for  his  high-bred,  masculine  head, 
breadth  and  depth  of  chest,  full  crops, 
and  round,  level  carcass.  He  was  good 
in  loin  and  quarter,  and  strong  in  the 
twist.  His  handling  quality,  hair  and 
skin  were  first-class. 

This  bull  was  great  as  an  individual, 
but  he  also  had  merit  as  a  breeder,  al- 
though he  cannot  be  considered  the  equal 
of  oithM»  Belvedere  oijiComat  in  that  re- 
spect, tiutli  Jut  nhluli  HILIL  owned  by 
Bates.  The  Duke  was  born,  lived  and 
died  the  property  of  Bates,  and  history 
has  it  that  large  sums  of  money  were  of- 
fered in  exchange  for  the  bull,  but  the 
owner  was  not  tempted. 


—17- 


ISABELLA 


The  Booth  family  began  its  career  in 
breeding  Shorthorns  with  Thomas  Booth 
at  Killerby,  Yorkshire,  England,  about 
1790.  He  had  two  sons,  Richard  and 
John,  who  inherited  the  family  estate 
and  established  separate  herds  of  their 
own.  In  1814  Richard  left  Killerby  and 
took  the  Studley  farm  at  Ripon,  where 
he  continued  breeding  until  1834,  when 
the  herd  was  dispersed. 

Within  a  year  after  locating  at  Studley 
Mr.  Booth  bought  in  Darlington  market 
a  roan  cow.  She  was  sired  by  Mr.  Bur- 
rell's  bull  Burdon  (1768).  Bred  to 
Agamemnon  (9),  this  roan  cow  produced 
a  heifer  which  is  known  as  the  "white 
cow."  At  that  period'  there  were  two 
bulls  in  the  herd  of  Thomas  Booth  at 
Killerby,  viz.,  Albion  (14)  and  Pilot 
(496).  Both  of  these  proved  animals  of 
great  breeding  character.  In  fact,  Al- 
bion was  regarded  as  the  greatest  of.  the 
Booth  bulls  of  early  days.  The  "while-; 
cow"  was  bred  to  Pilot,  from  which 
union  came  the  heifer  Isabella,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch.  This  "white  cow" 
was  also  the  dam  of  Own  Sister  to  Isa- 
bella and  Lady  Sarah.  The  former  was 
dam  of  Blossom,  and  she  was  dam  of 
Medora,  "one  of  the  neatest  cows  Mr. 
Booth  ever  bred." 

History  records  many  famous  breed- 
ing beef  matrons,  but  for  general  excel- 
lence and  extended  usefulness  Isabella 
may  be  classed  among  the  very  first. 
She  was  not  only  an  animal  of  great 
individual  merit,  being  termed  the 
"matchless  Isabella,"  but  she  proved  her- 
self to  be  a  breeder  of  the  first  class,  and 
from  her  came  the  Isabella  tribe,  one  of 
the  very  best  of  Booth  breeding.  To  il- 
lustrate the  superior  qualifications  of 
Isabella  as  a  show  cow.  the  following-  is 
pertinent:  Sir  Charles  Morgan  in  1823 
proposed  a  trial  of  merit  between  Short- 
born  and  Hereford  cattle.  The  Rev. 
Henry  Berry,  a  Shorthorn  advocate  of 
note,  wished  to  bring  this  competition 
about  and  proposed  that  such  a  contest 
take  place  on  the  following  Christmas. 
He  offered  to  place  t-w-o  Shorthorn  fe- 
males against  any  two  Herefords  in 
England  of  similar  age  and  fecundity. 
One  of  these  two  was  Isabella,  then  3 

—18— 


years  old.  She  was  Mr.  Berry's  ideal 
Shorthorn.  The  ofter  made  by  the  par- 
son was  never  accepted. 

Carr,  writing  in  1867  of  the  Booth 
Shorthorns,  says  that  Isabella  and  her 
descendants  brought  the  massive  yet  ex- 
quisitely molded  forequarters  into  the 
herd.  Isabella's  grandam  was  very 
strong  in  the  development  of  this  part. 
She  was  also  responsible  for  the  straight 
underline,  a  feature  of  this  tribe.  This 
writer  further  states  that  the  Isabellas 
all  had  great  capacity  for  rapidly  ac- 
quiring ripe  condition  on  pasture.  The 
story  is  that  at  one  of  the  Yorkshire 
agricultural  meetings  a  grass-fed  heifer, 
a  daughter  of  Isabella,  sired  by  Ambo, 
was  rejected  by  the  judges  as  too  fat. 
As  she  did  not  breed  she  was  slaugh- 
tered at  York  for  Christmas  beef.  Her 
two  successful  rivals  also  were  non- 
breeders,  and,  as  it  happened,  they  werr- 
slaughtered  at  the  same  time  and  place, 
and  then  it  was  clearly  shown  that  the 
Isabella  heifer  had  the  best  carcass  and 
was  awarded  the  dressed  beef  prize. 

According  to  the  Coates  herd  book,  Isa- 
bella was  calved  May  17,  1820,  and  be- 
tween 1823  and  1834  was  the  dam  of  nine 
calves,  six  of  which  were  females.  Her 
first  calf  was  a  roan  heifer,  that  was  also 
named  Isabella.  In  1825  she  had  a  roan 
bull  calf,  that  was  named  Isaac,  by 
Young  Albion  (15),  that  proved  later  to 
be  a  valuable  sire,  although,  unfortu- 
nately, he  was  killed  before  his  real 
worth  became  known.  In  1828  or  1829 
she  had  another  roan  heifer  calf,  that 
was  named  Young  Isabella,  by  Memnon 
(2295).  and  in  1833  a  red  and  white  heifer 
by  Burley  (1766),  named  Isabel,  was 
dropped.  These  are  only  a  portion  of 
the  calves  she  was  dam  of  up  to  and  in- 
cluding 1834.  That  3^ear  Richard  Booth's 
herd  was  sold  at  a  dispersion  sale.  But 
he  did  not  sell  everything  under  the 
hammer.  He  retained  one  cow  only  of 
the  entire  herd,  and  that  was  Isabella. 
Removing  the  year  of  the  sale  tempo- 
rarily to  Sharrow,  and  after  a  year's  resi- 
dence there  to  Warlaby,  Richard  Booth 
took  with  him  this  great  dam,  which  at 
this  period  was  termed  by  one  writer  "a 
large,  patchy  cow." 

The  first  year  at  Warlaby  Isabella  pro- 
duced a  roan  bull  calf,  by  Young  Match- 
em  (4422),  after  which,  in  her  eighteenth 
year,  by  the  same  bull,  she  dropped  a 
heifer  that  was  named  Isabella  Matchem. 
This  heifer  proved,  like  her  dam,  to  be 
very  prolific,  and  was  the  mother  of  a 

—19— 


number  of  famous  sons  and  daughters, 
including  Fitz  Leonard  (7010),  Vanguard 
(10994),  and  the  roan  heifers  Innocence 
and  Isabella  Buckingham.  The  latter,  in 
her  time,  was  a  famous  show  cow,  being 
celebrated  for  victories  won  at  the  Royal 
in  1846  at  Northampton,  and  in  1847  at 
York,  winning  second  place  in  1848  at  the 
Norwich  Royal. 

In  early  days  at  Killerby  was  another 
famous  cow,  sired  by  Pilot,  the  sire  of 
Isabella,  Anna  by  name.  Her  son,  Ar- 
gus, and  Isabella's  son,  Isaac,  were  used 
on  the  herd,  and  from  their  blood  came 
the  cow  Toy,  a  daughter  of  Argus,  and 
the  bull  Priam  (2452),  a  son  of  Isaac.  A 
mating  of  Toy  and  Priam  produced  the 
famous  twin  heifers  Bracelet  and  Neck- 
lace, no  doubt  the  most  remarkable 
Shorthorn  twins  in  English  history.  Isa- 
bella Buckingham  was  sired  by  a  son 
of  Bracelet  by  the  name  of  Buckingham 
(3239),  a  combination  of  the  choicest 
Booth  families.  "The  'imposing  grandeur' 
of  the  Warlaby  Isabellas,"  says  Sanders, 
"was  a  theme  upon  which  admirers  of 
the  herd  ever  loved  to  dwell,  and  Isabella 
Buckingham  of  that  line,  like  Charity, 
reaped  a  rich  harvest  of  ribbons  and  ro- 
settes." 

But  few  cows  live  to  such  a  ripe  old 
age  as  did  Isabella.  What  a  record! 
Eighteen  years  of  noble  service  in  giv- 
ing her  life  blood,  that  the  name  and 
fame  of  Booth  Shorthorns  might  be  per- 
petuated. And  down  through  the  gener- 
ations the  blood  of  Isabella  has  fulfilled 
the  highest  mission  of  her  kind,  thereby 
entitling  her  to  a  place  in  the  Shorthorn 
hall  of  fame,  if  such  there  be. 


—20— 


VI 


All  references  to  early  Aberdeen- 
Angus  history  pay  deference  to  the  cow 
Old  Grannie,  bred  by  Hugh  Watson  of 
Keillor,  Scotland.  And  well  they  may. 
So  far  as  the  writer  is  aware,  she  stands 
without  an  equal  in  years  and  useful- 
ness. In  the  Scotch  Polled  Cattle  Herd- 
book,  in  the  first  volume  issued,  which 
combines  both  Aberdeen-Angus  and  Gal- 
loway, is  Old  Grannie  (1),  or  the  Prima 
cow.  Calved  in  1824,  she  died  on  July 
1,  1859,  at  the  age  of  35  years  and  6 
months. 

Scotland  has  produced  in  the  past  a 
number  of  celebrated  breeders  of  Aber- 
deen-Angus cattle,  and  in  their  time 
none  gave  greater  service  to  promoting 
high-class  breeding  than  Hugh  Watson 
of  Keillor,  Forfarshire,  William  Mc- 
Combie  of  Tillyfour  and  Sir  George  Mac- 
pherson  Grant  of  Ballindalloch.  The 
first  two  long  since  passed  away,  but 
the  latter  is-  yet  an  active  breeder. 

Old  Grannie  was  one  of  the  most 
notable  of  many  noted  animals  bred  by 
Watson.  It  is  said  that  he  desired  to 
keep  her  as  long  as  possible,  to  demon- 
strate the  longevity  of  a  vigorous  ani- 
mal of  the  breed  kept  in  a  natural  con- 
dition. And  so  during  the  many  years 
of  the  triumphs  of  Watson,  Old  Grannie 
stood  at  the  head  of  the  herd  as  an 
example  of  what  an  Angus  matron 
might  do  and  be. 

In  her  long  career  she  produced  twen- 
ty-five calves,  of  which  eleven  are  regis- 
tered in  the  herdbook.  The  following  list 
gives  their  names  and  sires: 

BULLS. 

Strathmore  (5)    Calved  1851 

Old  Windsor  (115) Sire,  Black  Jock  (3) 

First  Menius  (129) Sire     Black  Jock   (3) 

Hugo  (130) Sire,  Old  Jock  (1) 

The  Baron  (134) Sire,  Black  Jock  (3) 

COWS. 

Hope  (3) Sire    Grey-Breasted  Jock  (2) 


Lady  Clara   (4) Sire 

Beauty  of  Bnchan  (5).. Sire 
Young  Favorite  (61)... Sire 
Fdintmrgh  (64) Sire 


Grey-Breasted  Jock  (2) 
Grey-Breasted  Jock  (2) 
Grey-Brea'sted  Jock  (2) 
Grey-Breasted  Jock  (2) 


Keillor  (231) Sire,   Old  Jock   (1) 

If  it  is  true  that  the  real  history  of 
the  Aberdeen-Angus  breed  began  in  1808, 
with  the  improvements  of  Watson,  then 
this  work  had  been  sixteen  years  in 

—21— 


progress  when  Old  Grannie  entered  in 
on  the  scene.  During  the  first  twenty- 
nine  years  of  her  life  she  produced  the 
twenty-five  calves,  after  which  she 
ceased  breeding.  In  fact,  after  her 
twenty-eighth  year  she  produced  no  milk 
for  the  calf  to  suckle. 

This  cow  had  more  merit  than  simply 
age  and  fecundity.  Mr.  Watson  valued 
her  offspring,  and  they  became  impor- 
tant factors  in  his  herd.  Some  of  her 
daughters  were  purchased  by  the  best 
Scotch  breeders.  Mr.  Ferguson  of  Kin- 
nochtry  bought  in  1839  Young  Favorite 
(61)  and  Edinburgh  (64),  and  Mr.  Mc- 
Combie  of  Tillyfour  bought  Lady  Clara 
(4).  In  1882  Macdonald  and  Sinclair 
wrote:  "The  blood  of  Old  Grannie  (1) 
circulates  in  the  male  line  in  many  exist- 
ing tribes  of  cattle,  and  she  has  also 
several  living  female  descendants." 
Through  the  work  of  Mr.  Ferguson,  re- 
sulting from  his  1839  purchase  of  Young 
Favorite  (61),  came  the  Princess  and 
Baroness  families,  while  Edinburgh  (64) 
became  the  foundress^  of  the  Emily  fam- 
ily. There  is  little  difficulty  in  tracing 
back  Angus  pedigrees  of  to-day  into  the 
direct  blood  of  Old  Grannie. 

Some  of  the  unregistered  offspring  of 
this  old  matron  were  also  highly  es- 
teemed. A  son  of  hers,  that  later  came 
into  service  as  an  ox,  Hugh  Watson  con- 
sidered the  most  perfect  specimen  of  the 
polled  breed  he  ever  raised.  This  ox 
won  first  prize  in  class  in  1843  at  the 
Highland  show  at  Dundee,  and  he  walked 
the  thirteen  miles  from  Keillor  to  the 
grounds  to  be  exhibited.  At  Belfast,  Ire- 
land, Prince  Albert,  husband  of  Queen 
Victoria,  purchased  him,  and,  as  his  prop- 
erty, showed  him  at  Smithfield  in  1844. 
This  ox  met  with  such  favor  in  the  royal 
family  as  to  be  made  a  life  pensioner. 

A  painting  was  made  of  him  for  Mr. 
Watson,  and  colored  engravings  were 
also  published  and  widely  distributed, 
one  of  which  is  in  the  possession  of  the 
writer.  A  portrait  was  also  made  of  h'im 
by  the  celebrated  animal  painter,  Gour- 
lay  Steell.  This  ox  served  as  a  valued 
laborer  on  the  (arm  and  lived  to  be  17 
years  of  age. 

In  searching  for  specific  information 
concerning  Old  Grannie,  the  writer  has 
been  unable  to  find  any  statement  as  to 
her  type  and  personal  character.  '  No 
mention  of  these  things  is  made  in  con- 
siderable Angus  literature  at  my  dis- 

—22— 


posal,  including  articles  by  Hugh  Watson 
himself,  William  Watson,  his  son,  and 
an  extended  sketch  by  a  daughter,  as 
well  as  the  writings  of  McCombie,  Mac- 
donald  and  Sinclair  and  R.  C.  Auld.  That 
she  was  an  animal  of  very  superior  form 
and  quality  in  her  prime  is  undoubted. 
Miss  Watson  writes  of  Old  Grannie: 
"She,  herself,  when  she  was  34,  was 
shown  at  Aberdeen  as  extra  stock  in  1858, 
and  created  quite  a  sensation  in  the  show 
yard."  The  sensation,  however,  was  no 
doubt  due  to  the  remarkable  age  of  the 
cow  herself.  As  she  was  the  dam  of  over 
two  dozen  prize-takers,  she  no  doubt 
had  the  essentials  of  a  shapely  cow  of 
quality. 

Aside  from  the  breeding  value  of  Old 
Grannie  two  things  occurred  during  her 
life  that  add  much  interest  to  her  career. 
In  1859,  two  days  before  her  death,  at  the 
special  request  of  Prince  Albert,  a  pho- 
tograph of  her  was  taken,  and  in  Octo- 
ber, that  year,  was  placed  in  the  collec- 
tion of  cattle  photographs  in  Balmoral 
castle,  the  Scotch  home  of  the  queen. 

Another  happy  incident  was  the  pre- 
senting to  James  Thompson,  the  herds- 
man who  had  attended  Old  Grannie  all 
her  life,  who  had  been  in  Mr.  Watson's 
employ  for  forty-two  years,  of  a  medal 
and  premium  of  100  francs  by  the  French 
Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to 
Animals.  This  was  in  recognition  of 
the  kindness  which  must  have  charac- 
terized the  care  of  the  old  matron  dur- 
ing the  many  years  of  her  life  at 
Keillor. 

There  must  have  been  many  a  tug  at 
the  heart  strings  when  Old  Grannie 
passed  away  on  that  July  1,  1859.  And, 
as  many  an  old  granny  leaves  a  vacan- 
cy hard  to  fill  in  this  world,  so.  must  this 
old  dame  have  left  at  Keillor  a  place 
none  but  she  could  occupy.  Nor  was 
there  another  like  her.  at  least  in  that 
bonnie  Scotland. 


—23— 


VII  PANMURE    (51) 


The  breeder  of  Aberdeen-Angus  cat- 
tle who  does  not  study  pedigrees  mas' 
have  to  plead  guilty  of  lack  of  knowl- 
edge of  Panmure  (51),  and  yet  in  his 
time  he  was  a  very  famous  animal.  In 
fact,  by  many  he  is  regarded  as  impor- 
tant an  element  in  Angus  history  as 
Hubback  of  the  Shorthorns.  Both  were 
great  bulls  individually  and  in  breeding 
power. 

There  has  been  some  controversy  con- 
cerning the  ancestry  of  Panmure.  Vol. 
I.  of  the  Scotch  Polled  Cattle  Herd  Book 
states  that  his  dam  is  Black  Meg  (766), 
an  animal  of  implied  Galloway  blood, 
while  the  name  of  her  sire  is  not  given 
in  this  volume.  A  careful  study  of  the 
parentage  of  Panmure  was  made  by  Mr. 
Jamieson  of  Marischal  college,  Aber- 
deen, who  most  satisfactorily  solved  the 
question.  Black  Meg  (766)  may  be  re- 
ferred to  as  Black  Meg  of  Ardovie.  Wil- 
liam Fullerton  of  Ardovie,  the  owner  of 
Panmure,  in  correspondence  published 
by  Mr.  Jamieson,  states  that  the  bull 
was  bred  by  Lord  Panmure,  and  that  his 
dam  was  Black  Meg  of  Panmure,  un- 
questionably an  Aberdeen-Angus.  Some 
time  after  the  publication  of  the  herd 
book  referred  to  it  was  learned  that  Pan- 
mure  was  sired  by  an  Angus  bull  by 
the  name  of  Hector,  bred  by  a  gentle- 
man of  that  name  of  Fernyflatt,  parish 
ol  Kinneff. 

Regarding  the  reflection  on-  the  purity 
of  Panmure's  breeding — that  is,  being 
partly  from  Galloway  blood — the  fol- 
lowing is  of  interest:  Trie  bull  was 
owned  for  some  years  by  Mr.  Farquhar- 
son  Taylor  of  Wellhouse,  Aberdeen. 
While  in  his  possession  Lord  Panmure 
sent  a  famous  artist  by  the  name  of 
Phillip  to  his  home  to  paint  the  bull's 
portrait.  "Not  satisfied  with  Mr.  Phil- 
lip's first  sketch,"  writes  Mr.  McCombie, 
"he  sent  him  back  and  Mr.  Phillip  lived 
at  Wellhouse  for  weeks  and  painted  Parf- 
mure  a  second  time."  Referring  to  the 
portrait  of  the  bull,  as  bearing  on  breed 
ancestry  and  type,  Mr.  Fullerton,  along 
in  the  early  '70s,  wrote  to  Mr.  Jamieson 
as  follows:  "But  the  bull  Panmure  is 
on  canvas  in  the  Mechanics'  hall,  Brech- 

—24— 


In,  painted  by  the  great  J.  Phillip;  also 
he  is  now  before  me,  and  on  canvas  by 
the  same  great  man,  and  presented  to  me 
by  the  late  Lord  Panmure;  and  let  any 
judge  look  at  these  paintings  and  say 
if  he  sees  the  very  slightest  resemblance 
to  the  Galloway  breed.  Not  he!  No! 
Half  a  judge  would  even  say  so.  His 
elegant  head  and  stately  outline  would 
at  a  glance  at  once  bring  out  such  a 
remark  as,  'There  has  been  no  Galloway 
blood  there — No,  no!'" 

Mr.  Fullerton  was  a  celebrated  breeder 
of  Angus  cattle  in  his  time,  winning 
many  prizes  of  great  value.  Panmure 
was  calved  in  1840,  and  in  1841,  when 
a  year  and  a  half  old,  he  was  purchased 
by  Mr.  Fullerton  from  Lord  Panmure 
for  about  $90  American  money.  He 
proved  to  be  a  good  investment,  al- 
though owned  by  Mr.  Fullerton  but  two 
years.  While  in  his  possession  he  sired 
Monarch  (44)  and  another  bull  named 
Colonel.  Panmure  was  exhibited  by  Mr. 
Fullerton  and  with  much  success,  win- 
ning the  first  prize  as  a  3-year-old  at 
Dundee  in  1843,  when  in  very  strong 
competition.  After  this  show  he  was 
purchased  by  Mr.  Taylor,  already  re- 
ferred to,  in  whose  hands  he  made  a  good 
record  as  both  breeding  and  show  bull. 
Referring  to  him  in  his  later  career  Mr. 
Fullerton  writes:  "I  saw  him  (Pan- 
mure)  stand  as  winner  of  the  third  prize 
at  Aberdeen  with  his  two  sons,  Mon- 
arch (44)  and  the  Colonel,  both  bred  by 
me,  standing  beside  their  father — Mon- 
arch having  the  first  and  Colonel  the 
second  prize.  Of  course  Panmure  was 
by  this  time  some  8  or  9  years  of  age, 
and  so  wanted  to  some  extent  the  out- 
line and  sprightliness  of  a  3  or  even  a  5 
year  old.  Still,  and  to  make  allowance 
for  the  service  he  had  rendered,  there 
would  have  been  but  small  mistake,  if 
any,  to  have  made  his  sons  stand  below 
him.  I  do  not  think  I  have  ever  seen 
such  a  dashing  3-year-old  as  he  was  at 
Dundee  in  1843." 

Eleven  calves  of  Panmure  are  recorded 
in  the  first  volume  of  the  Scotch  herd 
book,  but  it  is  known  that  he  was  used 
liberally  in  the  localities  where  owned 
and  he  no  doubt  sired  many  calves  that 
were  never  registered.  Some  of  the 
more  important  ones  recorded  are  Mon- 
arch (44),  Princess  (47),  Jean  Ann  (206), 
Queen  Mother  (348),  Queen  of  Scots  (72), 
Queen  of  Kinnochtry  (572),  and  Princess 
Daughter  (832). 

__25 


Panmure,  bred  to  Queen  of  Ardovie 
(29),  a  daughter  of  Black  Meg  (766),  pro- 
duced Queen  Mother  (348),  the  foundress 
of  the  famous  Queen  tribe,  most  highly 
esteemed  by  all  lovers  of  Angus  cattle. 
Monarch  (44)  was  a  son  of  Panmure's 
through  a  daughter  of  his  by  the  name 
of  Julia,  out  of  Susanna,  a  daughter  of 
Black  Meg  (766).  Thus  Monarch  and 
Queen  Mother,  as  a  result  of  in-and-in- 
breeding  worthy  of  a  Colling,  were  half 
brother  and  sister.  Not  only  that,  but 
on  the  sire's  side  Panmure  was  not  only 
sire  but  also  grandsire.  Yet  Monarch 
was  such  a  superior  individual,  and  his 
breeding  was  so  good,  that  he  was 
bought  by  William  McCombie  and  placed 
at  the  head  of  his  herd.  In  his  work  on 
"Cattle  and  Cattle  Breeders"  that  breed- 
er writes,  as  evidence  of  the  merit  of 
Panmure's  breeding,  transmitted  to  his 
herd  by  his  son,  that  "some  of  my  best 
stock  trace  their  descent  from  Panmure." 
The  importance  of  this  statement  be- 
comes apparent  when  we  consider  that 
McCombie  stands  in  history  as  the  most 
successful  of  Angus  breeders. 

Mr.  McCombie  purchased  at  Ardovie 
the  cows  Queen  Mother  and  Jean  Ann, 
that  were  full  sisters,  sired  by  Panmure 
and  out  of  Queen  of  Ardovie  (29).  He 
bred  Monarch  (44))  to  each  of  these,  re- 
sulting in  1847  in  the  production  of  Lola 
Montes  (208),  and  in  1849  of  Bloomer  (201), 
two  famous  prize-winning  cows  in  their 
day  and  generation.  This  was  in-and- 
in-breeding  with  a  vengeance.  In  1852 
Lola  Montes  was  bred  to  Angus  (45),  a 
superior  bull  bred  by  Hugh  Watson,  and 
from  that  union  she  dropped  a  heifer 
named  Charlotte  (203),  which  became  a 
prize  winner  at  Paris  in  1856.  A  bull 
named  Hanton  (228),  that  was  the  first 
prize  Angus  male  at  the  Paris  exposition 
the  same  year,  and  shown  by  McCombie, 
an  animal  tracing  three  times  to  Pan- 
mure,  was  bred  to  Charlotte.  From  that 
service  in  1857  she  dropped  the  heifer 
Pride  of  Aberdeen  (581),  the  foundress  of 
the  Pride  family  of  the  Queen  tribe, 
whose  "career  is  without  a  parallel  in  the 
chronicles  of  the  breed."  She  was  a 
most  remarkable  cow,  creating  a  sen- 
sation at  Sccf.ch  shows  for  three  years, 
and  making  a  great  impression  at  the 
international  show  at  Battersea  in  1862. 
The  famous  Prince  Ito  (12869),  that  in 
1902  sold  for  $9,100  in  Chicago  at  public 
sale,  the  Angus  record  price,  is  five  gen- 

—26— 


erations  descended  from  Pride  of  Aber- 
deen in  a  direct  line  on  the  dam's  side. 

One  cannot  trace  a  Queen  Mother  or 
Pride  of  to-day  without  running  back 
into  the  blood  of  Panmure.  A  study  of 
many  an  Angus  pedigree  will  show  that 
Panmure  played  his  part,  although  often 
overlooked  through  the  space  of  time. 
Yet  the  very  best  blood  of  the  Angus  cat- 
tle of  Scotland  secured  from  him  a  rich 
part  of  its  inheritance. 


—  27— 


VIII 


YOUNG  VISCOUNT  (736)  181 


Young   Viscount    (736)    was    calved    in 

1873,  being  bred   by  William   Duff,   Hil- 
lockhead,  Glass,  Scotland.     His  sire  was 
the  bull  Hampton    (492),  while   his   dam 
was  Erica  3d  (1249)  of  the  Ballindalloch 
Erica  tribe.     When   a   calf  Young   Vis- 
count was  purchased  by  the  Earl  of  Fife 
at    Duff     house,    near     Banff,    Scotland. 
His  superior  character  became  manifest 
as  a  calf,  and  he  was  shown  as  a  year- 
ling  at    the    Highland    and    Agricultural 
society  show  at  Inverness,   Scotland,   in 

1874,  where    he    won    first     prize    in    his 
class.    The  following  year  he  was  shown 
at   Glasgow,    where    as   a   2-year-old   he 
gained    first.     Again,    in    1876,    at    Aber- 
deen he  competed  in  the  aged  bull  class, 
and   again     received     the     coveted     first 
place.     In   notes   on   the   Highland   show 
animals,  in  reference  to  Young  Viscount, 
William  Macdonald,  editor  of  the  North 
British   Agriculturist,    writes   of  him,    in 
reference  to  the  Inverness  show,  as  "the 
highest-priced     bull     and     perhaps     the 
best-looking    animal    of    the    breed    that 
has    yet    been    shown."      The     following- 
year   at   Glasgow    he    writes    of   him   as 
"looking   compact   and    shapely,    though 
less    striking     than     he     afterward    ap- 
peared."    At  the  Aberdeen  show  Young 
Viscount   seemed    in    better    bloom,    and 
Mr.    Macdonald     wrote     that     he    "here 
looked    almost    perfect    in    form.      Deep, 
square    and   level,    he    lacked    length    of 
neck  a  trifle,  but  he  had  no  other  fault, 
and  was  'head  and  shoulders'  above  his 
compeers  in  the  aged  class." 

In  1875  this  bull  won  the  $250  Chal- 
lenge cup,  and  in  1878  the  McCombie 
prize  at  the  Royal  Northern  show  of 
about  $75  for  the  best  breeding  Angus 
bull  in  Scotland.  In  order  to  make  his 
claim  good  for  being  a  grand  individual 
he  won  first  prize  as  aged  bull  and  a 
special  prize  of  about  $150  at  the  .Inter- 
national Exposition  at  Kilburn,  London, 
in  1879.  These  various  records  indicate 

—28— 


great  show  character  on  the  part  of 
Young  Viscount.  It  is  a  remarkable 
record  for  any  bull  to  campaign  for  six 
years  and  have  an  unbroken  list  of  first 
prizes.  So  great  an  impression  as  an 
individual  did  he  make  that  in  1882 
Campbell  Macpherson  Campbell  wrote  of 
him:  "Young  Viscount  is  an  undefeated 
bull,  and  is  acknowledged  by  breeders 
to  be  the  best  bull  of  the  breed  ever 
seen." 

In  1878  this  son  of  Erica  3d  was  pur- 
chased by  Sir  George  Macpherson  Grant 
for  225  guineas  (about  $1,125),  the  highest 
price  paid  for  an  Angus  up  to  that  time. 
From  then  he  went  into  active  breeding 
service  in  the  Ballindalloch  herd,  where 
he  was  used  with  great  success,  as  will 
appear  further  on. 

Young  Viscount  possesses  special  in- 
terest for  American  breeders,  as  well  as 
British.  While  retained  until  his  death 
in  Scotland,  he  proved  to  be  a  male  of 
great  prepotency,  and  his  descendants 
have  played  a  most  important  part  in 
American  Angus  development.  Reference 
to  almost  any  catalogue  of  to-day,  show- 
ing pedigrees  of  this  breed,  will  show 
the  name  of  Young  Viscount  occurring 
four  to  six  generations  back.  Several 
of  his  sons  are  worth  more  than  passing 
comment.  No  doubt  his  most  distin- 
guished son  was  Ermine  Bearer  1749,  out 
of  Erminia  1750.  This  bull  was  imported 
from  Ballindalloch  by  Mossom  Boyd  & 
Co.  of  Bobcaygeon,  Canada.  In  their 
herd  he  proved  a  great  sire,  and  his  sons, 
Abactor  and  Abbotsford  2702  became  two 
great  bulls.  The  former  sired  Jean's 
Abactor  2d,  the  first  prize  yearling  bull 
at  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition  in 
1893.  while  the  latter,  as  the  sire  of  Black 
Monk  13214,  secures  permanent  place 
among  the  famous  sires.  Mr.  McGavock, 
referring  to  Ermine  Bearer  in  the  Breed- 
er's Gazette  (Aug.  28,  1901),  says:  "Er- 
mine Bearer  is,  I  believe,  entitled  to  the 
distinction  of  being  America's  foremost 
sire  of  high-class  producing  dams."  Lu- 
cia Windsor,  a  daughter,  was  dam  of 
Gay  Lad  19538,  the  champion  bull  of  1895 
and  1896,  which  as  a  5-year-old  sold  at 
$3,050.  Another  daughter,  Lucia  Estill, 
sold  in  the  Estill  dispersion  sale  at  $2,800. 
There  are  numerous  descendants  of  Er- 
mine Bearer  that  became  great  prize 
winners. 

Another  son  of  Young  Viscount  that 
attracts  attention  is  Bushranger  (2012). 

—29— 


He  was  bred  at  Ballindalloch,  and  came 
into  the  possession  of  Estill  &  Elliott, 
where  he  was  for  some  time  at  the  head 
of  the  Woodland  herd  at  Estill.  Mo.  He 
was  a  very  short-legged,  thick- fleshed 
bull,  and  sold  at  public  auction  at  $1,150. 
He  was  the  sire. of  a  champion  bullock 
of  the  1888  fat  stock  show  named  Dot, 
and  of  a  bull  named  Estill  Erick.  that 
proved  to  be  a  high-class  sire  of  pro- 
ducing dams. 

Still  another  son  of  Young  Viscount 
was  King  of  Trumps  2690,  out  of  Duchess 
of  Verulam  2748,  owned  by  Mossom  Boyd 
&  Co.  of  Canada.  This  bull  had  the  same 
great  prepotency  seen  in  his  sire,  and 
was  also  a  celebrated  show  animal.  In 
1883  he  was  first  prize  2-year-old  at  To- 
ronto, and  also  at  the  Dominion  exposi- 
tion at  Ottawa,  winning  a  silver  medal  at 
the  latter  show  as  the  best  bull  of  any 
age.  In  1884  he  again  won  first  prize  at 
each  of  these  fairs,  and  in  1886  was  first 
prize  bull  at  Toronto  for  the  third 
time. 

A  daughter  of  Young  Viscount,  bred  at 
Ballindalloch,  by  the  name  of  Katinka 
778  (4669),  cost  $1,500  in  Scotland,  and  was 
a  cow  "of  wonderful  individual  merit." 
She  was  owned  by  Wallace  Estill  of  Es- 
til,  Mo.,  and  proved  to  be  an  excellent 
dam. 

The  great  importance  of  Young  Vis- 
count's blood  has  been  best  seen  in  mat- 
ing with  the  Blackbird  tribe.  Take  up  a 
catalogue  showing  prominent  Blackbird 
breeding,  and  Young  Viscount  and  his 
descendants  make  a  striking  showing. 
Take,  for  example,  the  pedigree  of  Black 
Monarch  of  Emerson  30331.  one  of  the 
prominent  service  bulls  of  to-day.  He  is 
six  generations  removed  on  each  side  of 
the  family  from  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  Young  Hero  1921,  his  son,  being 
sire  of  Rugby  6140.  The  latter,  bred  to 
Blackcap  of  Keillor  Lodge  2095,  dropped 
the  famous  Blackbird  Hero  14494,  the 
grandsire  of  Black  Monarch  of  Emerson, 
on  both  sire  and  dam's  side.  The  blood 
of  Young  Viscount,  however,  is  found 
abundantly  in  other  tribes. 

Volume  1  of  the  American  Aberdeen- 
Angus  herd  book  contains  5,200  names  of 
animals  registered,  and  Young  Viscount 
was  sire  of  thirty-two  of  these,  twenty- 
three  being  bulls.  These  sons  of  his  are 
sires  of  hundreds  of  animals  registered 
in  this  volume,  many  of  which  are  well 
known  to  fame. 

—30— 


It  is  hardly  a  third  of  a  century  ago 
that  Young  Viscount  appeared  as  a  can- 
didate for  show  honors  and  breeding 
fame.  His  record  in  competition  with 
the  best  in  the  Scotch  show  ring,  and  the 
added  records  of  offspring  and  descend- 
ants during  twenty-five  years  in  Angus 
history,  stamp  him  as  the  greatest  breed- 
ing bull  since  1875.  Many  claim  him  to 
be  the  greatest  Angus  bull  in  history, 
and  there  are  many  facts  to  support 
their  argument. 


—31— 


IX 


JILT  (973)  422 


Among  the  various  tribes  of  Aberdeen- 
Angus  cattle  the  Jilt  stands  prominent. 
We  naturally  pay  considerable  deference 
to  a  matron  of  dignified  and  impressive 
bearing  and  quality,  but  in  the  case  of 
Jilt  (973)  422,  the  foundress  of  this  tribe, 
there  are  quite  exceptional  reasons  why 
one  should  pay  her  homage.  She  was 
not  the  greatest  of  show  cows  in  her 
time;  there  were  better  ones.  Yet  she 
was  a  worthy  individual,  for  she  was 
a  second-prize  winner  at  the  Highland 
and  Agricultural  show  of  Scotland  in 
1864,  and  won  the  same  place  the  next 
year  at  the  Royal  Northern.  In  view  of 
the  fact  that  both  McCombie  and  others 
were  making  great  shows  of  Angus  in 
those  days,  a  second  place  in  the  ring 
must  mean  much  of  individual  merit. 

Jilt  (973)  was  bred  by  William  Mc- 
Gombie  at  Tillyfour.  She  had  for  sire 
one  of  the  most  impressive  and  valuable 
bulls  of  that  time,  Black  Prince  of  Tilly- 
four  (366)  77,  a  descendant  of  Queen 
Mother,  while  her  dam  was  Beauty  ot 
Tillyfour  2d  (1180)  423.  The  sire  was 
bred  by  McCombie  and  the  dam  by  Wat- 
son, and  each  animal  represented  the 
blood  from  which  great  individuals  may 
be  created.  Jilt  was  dropped  in  1863,  and 
in  1867  was  purchased  at  McCombie's  sale 
for  about  $350  by  Sir  George  Macpherson 
Grant  for  the  herd  at  Ballindalloch. 
When  she  was  10  years  old,  Thomas  Far- 
rail,  in  a  prize  essay  on  this  breed,  pub- 
lished by  the  Highland  and  Agricultural 
society,  wrote:  "Though  several  sum- 
mers have  somewhat  dashed  her  bloom, 
she  is  still  a  cow  of  great  size  and  many 
good  points." 

Although  the  Ballindalloch  herd  is  a 
very  old  one,  McCombie  regarding  it  as 
one  of  the  oldest  in  north  Scotland,  it 
has  been  said  that  it  got  its  first  good 
start  with  the  Jilt  stock.  And  this  leads 
us  to  Jilt,  the  breeder,  and  here  she 
stands  out  in  history  as  a  really  wonder- 
ful cow.  So  superior  as  individuals  'and 
breeders  were  her  sons  that  she  ha-? 
been  happily  termed  "the  mother  of 
monarchs,"  the  appropriateness  of  which 
will  appear  farther  on.  Jilt  bred  to  16 
years  of  age  and  had  nine  calves,  and 
as  she  ceased  to  breed  was  slaughtered 

—32— 


in  her  seventeenth  year.     The  following 
is  a  list  of  Jilt's  sons  and  daughters: 

Juryman    (4Q4)   421 ..Sire,   Bright   (454)   375 

Jester     (472)     1471 : 

' l.-Sire.    Victor  of   Ballindalloeh    (403)   528 

Jewel    (1413)    1669 „ 

.   Sire.    Victor  of   Ballindalloch    (403)   528 

Jewess   a916)   852..' Sire    Exciseman   (473)   801 

Judge  (1150>  473 Sire,  Scotsman  (474)  482 

Judy  (2996)  4131. Sir.e.  BalUmore  (741)  474 

Juno  of  Ballindalloch  (3374) -1900 

Sire.   Ballimore  (741)  474 

Justice  (1462)  854 Sire,   Elcho  (595)   527 

General  of  Tillyfour   (1332)   5158 

Sire.    President   4th    (368)    279 

These  are  all  recorded  in  volume  .1  of 
the  American  Aberdeen- Angus  Herd- 
book,  as  the  registration  numbers  show, 
Besides  these>,  .according  to  Judge  Good- 
win, there  is  another  son,  named  Jacket 
sired  by  Editor,  but  not  registered  in  the 
American  book. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  here  that  cus- 
tom occasionally  adopted  by  the  breeders 
of  naming  stock  with  a  uniform  letter — 
a  method  apparently  well  perpetuated 
in  the  Jilt  tribe,  and,  as  Farrall  says, 
"a  race  or  family  of  J's  difficult  to  com- 
pete with." 

It  will  be  well  to  briefly  consider  some 
of  these  sons  and  daughters  of  Jilt. 
Juryman,  Judge  and  Justice  ,  brought 
everlasting  fame  to  the  memory  of  the 
cow.  They  formed  a  great  trio,  and 
Americans  must  be  especially  interested 
in  them  from  the  fact  that  both  Judge 
'and  Justice  were  purchased  and  used  by 
Judge  J.  S.  Goodwin  (then  of  Beloit, 
Kan.)  in  his  herd. 

Juryman  made  his  first  appearance  in 
the  show  ring  at  the  Highland  at  Dum- 
fries, winning  first  place,  and  again  at 
the  1871  Highland  at  Perth,  winning  first 
as  aged  bull.  In  1871  he  was  referred 
to  xas  "a  remarkably  good  looking  as 
well  'as  a  most  valuable  stock  bull." 

Judge  was  calved  in  1875,  and  he  se- 
cured fame  by  winning  first  prize  in  the 
aged  bull  class  at  the  Paris  exposition, 
and  so  has  been  dubbed  "the  world 
beater."  He  was  imported  to  Rouga- 
mont,  Quebec,  by  George  Whitfield,  who 
later  sold  him  to  Judge  Goodwin,  In 
whose  possession  he  died. 

Justice,  "the  incomparable,"  was  calved 
in  1878,  and  he,  perhaps,  attained  the 
most  fame  of  these  famous  brothers. 
Justice  was  first  shown  as  a  yearling  at 
Perth  in  1879,  and  at  the  Highland  show, 
where  he  was  "splendidly  brought  out," 
and  won  first  place  in  class.  In  1880,  at 
the  Highland  at  Kelso,  he  was  second  as 

—33— 


2-year-old,  "through  a  little  lightness 
around  the  girth,"  being  defeated  by 
Prince  of  the  Realm.  The  next  year, 
however,  at  the  Stirling  Highland  show, 
with  the  same  two  bulls  in  the  ring,  this 
decision  was  reversed,  and  Justice  became 
the  first  prize  aged  bull,  the  highest  An- 
gus honor  in  Scotland.  The  quality  of 
Justice  was  said  to  be  quite  remarkable. 
It  is  interesting  to  note,  regarding  him, 
that  he  was  sired  by  a  half  brother,  his 
grandsire  being  Juryman,  Jilt's  first  calf, 
out  of  the  original  Erica  (843).  Here  we 
have  a  union  of  two  of  the  greatest  Angus 
tribes  of  cattle,  from  which  most  for- 
tunate results  were  secured.  Judge 
Goodwin  made  a  special  trip  to  Scotland 
and  purchased  Justice,  and  he  died  at 
Beloit,  in  his  herd,  on  July  3,  1886. 

Jewel  has  been  considered  the  best 
daughter  of  Jilt.  She  was  shown  at  the 
United  Banffshire  show,  where  she  won 
first  prize  and  a  cup  as  the  best  polled 
animal  exhibited,  but  she  fell  ,to  third 
place  at  both  Highland  and  Royal  North- 
ern shows  in  1877.  She  proved,. to  be  a 
high-class  breeder,  and  was  first  as  one 
of  a  pair  of  Angus  breeding  cows  at  the 
Royal  Northern  1n  1878.  Her  son,  Jupiter 
of  Aberlour,  was  a  famous  prize  winner, 
and  a  daughter,  Jill,  was  about  the  first 
close  descendant  of  Jilt  to  be  imported 
to  America. 

Jewess  was  a  very  large  cow  of  an  ex- 
cellent sort  that  was  retained  to  breed 
at  Ballindalloch. 

Mainly  through  the  preceding  five  sons 
and  daughters  has  come  most  of  the 
fame  of  Jilt.  The  bulls  were  used  ex- 
tensively at  Ballindalloch,  and  with  con- 
siderable success;  in  fact,  with  greater 
success  than  marked  the  career  of  Judge 
and  Justice  in  America.  The  Jilts  have 
proved  to  be  great  bull  breeders,  and 
consequently  much  of  the  reputation  of 
the  tribe  has  come  from  this  source.  Re- 
ferring to  this  feature,  Judge  Goodwin,  in 
an  interesting  communication  on  Jilt  in 
the  Breeder's  Gazette  (June  22,  1892) 
says:  "For  a  number  of  years  there  was 
scarcely  any  female  increase  at  Ballin- 
dalloch,  and  as  a  result  almost  the  entire 
reputation  of  the  family  has  been  made 
by  the  bulls.  Those  sold  from  the  herd, 
however,  have  been  very  prolific,  until 
now  more  Jilts  are  owned  away  from 
Ballindalloch  than  there,  although  only 
four  females  have  been  disposed  of  in 
the  past  twenty  years,  until  within  the 

—34— 


past  year.  *  *  *  It  is  on  account  of 
the  facts  just  stated  that  it  has  been 
well  nigh  impossible  to  secure  any  of 
the  females  of  this  family  at  any  price." 

As  before  noted,  Jilt  was  a  cow  of  large 
size,  and  this  quality  in  her  seems  to 
have  been  transmitted  to  her  descend- 
ants, probably  largely  through  her  three 
great  sons,  for  Judge  Goodwin  credits 
Judge  with  weighing  about  2800  pounds, 
and  Justice  exceeding  3000  pounds,  each 
of  which  represent  enormously  heavy  an- 
imals. The  quality  of  flesh  and  softness 
of  hair  are  also  commented  on  as  distin- 
guishing features  of  the  Jilts. 

The  blood  of  Jilt  has  been  liberally 
used  among  the  Ericas  and  Prides,  and 
is  found  playing  an  important  part  in 
the  bes,t  Prides  of  to-day.  The  sire  of 
Prince  Ito's  dam  is  Justice,  while  Jury- 
man occurs  three  times  in  the  sixth  gen- 
eration on  the  sire's  side.  Young  Viscount 
was  bred  with  success  to  both  of  Jilt's 
daughters,  Jewel  and  Jewess,  and  from 
those  unions  have  come  other  J's,  to  the 
advantage  of  the  breed. 

Jilt  in  her  three  choicest  sons  was  a 
thrice  worthy  matron,  yet  even  Justice 
alone  made  impression  enough  on  the 
breed  to  bring  fame  to  such  a  dam.  The 
excellence  of  Jilt  should  be  indelibly 
chronicled  in  the  annals  of  Scotch  Angus 
history. 


—35— 


SOVEREIGN  (404)  221 


Early  Hereford  cattle  history  gives 
only  limited  information  concerning 
those  animals  that  had  an  important 
influence  on  the  breed.  The  Tomkins 
family  in  Herefordshire  is  generally 
recognized  to  be  the  most  important 
factor  in  the  early  improvement  of  the 
breed.  This  began  with  Richard  Tom- 
kins,  who  died  in  1723;  was  continued 
by  his  son  Be.n  Tomkins,  known  as  the 
elder,  born  in  1714  and  died  in  1789,  and 
concluded  with  Ben  Tomkins,  the 
younger,  the  greatest  breeder  of  the 
three,  son  of  the  first  Ben,  born  in  1745 
and  died  in  1814.  Tomkins  the  younger 
had  two  bulls— Wellington  (4)  and  Silver 
Bull  (41).  These  are,  so  far  as  we  know, 
the  real  great  early  improvers  of  the 
breed,  yet  we  know  comparatively  little 
of  their  life  history. 

Following  soon  after  the  time  of  the 
two  bulls  named  came  Sovereign  (404). 
He  was  calved  at  Purslow,  Shropshire, 
in  1820,  and  was  bred  by  John  Hewer. 
Following  Tomkins,  no  family  had  a 
more  impoitant  influence  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  Hereford  than  that  of 
Hewer.  William  was  the  father  and 
John,  the  son,  the  breeder  of  Sovereign, 
was  born  in  1787  and  died  in  1873.  The 
importance  of  these  two  persons  is  in- 
dicated by  MacDonald  and  Sinclair  in 
their  history  of  Hereford  cattle,  in  which 
they  state  that  "the  student  of  the  Herd 
Book  will  find  that  nearly  every  valu- 
able strain  of  Herefords  at  the  present 
day  is  full  of  Hewer  blood." 

Sovereign,  also  known  as  Old  Sover- 
eign, was  sired  by  Favorite  (442)  and 
was  out  of  a  cow  named  Countess.  Both 
his  sire  and  dam  were  from  the  same 
parents — viz.,  Young  Wellington  (505) 
and  Cherry,  by  Wellington  (507).  Con- 
sequently Sovereign  was  the  result  of 
the  union  of  own  brother  and  sister,  the 
Very  closest  of  in-breeding  known. 

Just  what  the  personal  characteristics 
of  Sovereign  were  we  can  only  con- 
jecture in  part,  for  little  description  is 
left  of  him.  In  those  days  Herefords 
were  variable  in  color,  and  so  late  as 
1846,  when  volume  1  of  the  English  Here- 
ford Herd  Book  appeared,  the  breed  as 
based  on  color  was  placed  in  four  groups 

—36— 


— viz.,  mottle  face,  white  face,  gray  and 
light  gray.  Sovereign  was  typical  of 
the  modern  Hereford  in  color,  being 
white  of  face,  breast,  belly,  top  of  neck, 
shanks  and  pasterns,  and  white  brush 
to  tail.  The  best  judges  of  those  days, 
it  is  said,  found  much  of  merit  in  this 
bull,  and  he  was  hired  out  to  the  fol- 
lowing distinguished  breeders  during  the 
fifteen  years  of  his  life: 

Robert  Tench,  Bromfleld,  Salop. 
Lord  Sherborne,  Gloucestershire. 
Earl  Ducfe,   Gloucestershire. 
Thomas  Wells,  Hamnet. 
Richard  Kilmister,   The  Grove. 
Messrs.  Hewer,  Northleach. 
Sir    H.    Hoskyns,    Bart.,    Harewood. 
Thomas  Jeffries,   The  Grove. 
Thomas  Jeffries,  Jr.,  Cotmore. 
Edmund  Jeffries,   The  Grove. 
Richard  Yeomans,  Howton. 
John   Turner.   Noke. 
Messrs.  Rogers,  Sternsbach. 

The  influence  of  Sovereign  on  the  herds 
owned  by  the  breeders  listed  was  simply 
remarkable,  and  he  did  more  to  spread 
abroad  the  fame  of  Hereford  cattle  than 
any  other  animal  in  his  time.  So  pre- 
potent was  he,  and  so  successful  was 
Hewer,  that  many  of  the  best  Hereford 
breeders  of  those  days  were  induced  to 
introduce  Hewer  bulls  into  their  herds. 
"Sovereign  is  said  to  have  done  won- 
ders in  every  herd  he  was  used  in,"  and 
the  mating  of  his  blood  with  that  from 
Lottery  (410)  is  said  to  have  been  still 
more  effective.  Two  men  received  very 
marked  benefits  from  using  Sovereign  in 
their  herds — viz.,  Thomas  Jeffries  and 
Sir  Hungerford  Hoskyns.  They  were 
both  famous  breeders.  The  latter  did 
much  to  extend  and  improve  the  breed, 
and  during  his  time  used  fourteen  dif- 
ferent Hewer-bred  bulls. 

Probably  the  most  distinguished  ani- 
mal sired  by  Sovereign  was  Cotmore 
(376)  150,  which  he  sired  when  15  years 
old.  He  was  bred  by  Thomas  Jeffries 
and  was  the  first-prize  Hereford  male 
at  the  initial  show  of  the  Royal  Agri- 
cultural society  held  at  Oxford  in  1839. 
It  is  given  in  Hereford  literature  that 
Cotmore  weighed  thirty-five  hundred- 
weight, or  3920  pounds,  so  that  he  was 
an  animal  of  most  unusual  size,  while 
his  sire  was  not.  Sovereign  also  sired 
Wormelow,  an  animal  of  much  merit, 
owned  by  Sir  H.  Hoskyns.  "and  many 
others  of  equal  merit."  Among  his  heif- 
ers was  Fatrumps,  the  first-prize  cow 
of  1840  at  the  Royal  show.  Spot,  the 
winning  cow  at  the  1839  Royal,  was  by 
a  son  of  Sovereign. 

—37— 


In  consideration  of  the  fact  that  this 
bull  lived  to  be  15  years  of  age,  and  was 
used  in  at  least  fourteen  different  and 
prominent  herds,  it  is  almost  impossible 
to  see  how  one  could  trace  back  the 
pedigree  of  Hereford  cattle  to  early  days 
without  getting  into  Sovereign  blood. 
Sir  David,  known  as  one  of  the  great 
Hereford  bulls  of  history,  was  a  great- 
grandson  of  Sovereign,  a.nd  probably  de- 
rived some  of  his  excellence  from  him. 
The  blood  of  Grove  the  3d,  famous  both 
in  England  and  America,  runs  back 
through  Sir  Benjamin  to  Sovereign.  The 
same  may  be  said  of  Garfield,  Earl  of 
Shadeland  22d,  Elton  1st,  Lord  Wilton 
and  a  host  of  others. 

The  profits  derived  from  the  use  of 
Sovereign  were  very  unusual.  Not  only 
\v»s  there  that  unmeasurable  value  from 
having  such  a  sire  in  the  herd,  which 
Hewer  enjoyed,  but  it  is  also  said  that 
Hewer  received  £640  18s,  or  about  $3,205, 
from  the  various  people  who  hired  the 
bull.  The  fact  that  Sovereign  was  used 
by  so  many  people  is  an  expression  of 
good  will  on  the  part  of  Hewer  toward 
his  fellow-breeders,  which  is  a  happy 
condition  for  us  to  look  to,  even  in  this 
day  and  generation.  Sovereign  certainly 
was  worthy  of  his  hire. 


—38— 


XI 


SIR  DAVID  (349)  68 


Just  about  a  quarter  of  a  century 
after  the  birth  of  Sovereign  another 
epoch-making  Hereford  sire  appeared  on 
the  scene.  Sir  David  (349)  68  was  calved 
Feb.  13,  1845,  and  was  bred  by  David 
•Williams  of  Brecon,  Wales.  Brecon  is 
a  town  of  nearly  6,000  inhabitants,  lying 
about  thirty-eight  miles  westerly  from 
the  city  of  Hereford. 

Sir  David  is  entitled  to  a  place  in  the 
Hereford  list  of  old  worthies  for  two 
distinct  and  different  reason — first,  he 
was  a  great  show  bull  in  his  time,  and, 
second,  he  proved  himself  to  be  one  of 
those  breeders  which  only  rarely  occur 
in  the  history  of  a  breed.  His  show 
yard  career  really  began  in  1846,  when 
as  a  yearling  at  the  show  of  the  Royal 
Agricultural  society  he  won  the  first 
prize  in  class  of  twenty  sovereigns  at 
Newcastle-on-Tyne.  He  was  then  shown 
by  J.  N.  Carpenter  of  Bardisland  near 
Leominster.  At  the  Royal  show  in  1849 
at  Norwich  he  was  shown  by  Edward 
Price,  Court  House,  Pembridge,  when  he 
won  first  pjace  in  the  aged  bull  class. 
He  also  won  the  challenge  sweepstakes 
at  the  Royal  shows  of  both  1848  and  1849. 
At  the  Hereford  Agricultural  show  in 
1848  he  was  first  prize  in  class,  and 
the  following  year  at  the  same  show 
was  first  with  cow  and  offspring.  Both 
in  1848  and  1849  he  won  first  prize  and 
sweepstakes  at  Hereford  in  competition 
open  to  all  England.  Again,  in  1848,  he 
was  first  at  both  Lmdlow  and  Leominster 
with  four  of  his  offspring. 

Such  a  record  as  this  in  the  show  ring, 
in  the  very  heart  of  the  Hereford  coun- 
try, must  clearly  pojnt  to  a  bull  and 
sire  of  extraordinary  merit. 

The  ancestry  of  Sir  David  is  a  matter 
of  uncertainty.  His  sire  was  Chance 
(348),  and  his  dam,  Duchess,  was  mated 
to  her  own  sire,  which  was  also  Chance, 
from  which  came  Sir  David.  Back  of 
Chance  lies  the  uncertainty;  his  dam 
was  a  cow  named  Victoria,  which  got 
loose  and  into  a  field  with  several  young 
bulls,  on  which  occasion  she  got  in  calf. 
As  some  of  these  young  bulls  were  by 
her  own  sire  it  will  be  noted  that  Sir 
David  is  strongly  in-and-in  bred.  The 
dam  of  the  cow,  Victoria,  was  sired  by 

—39— 


Sovereign  (404),  so  that  Sir  David  rightly 
comes  by  his  superior  excellence  as  an 
individual  and  a  breeder.  As  bearing 
on  his  pedigree,  Macdonald  and  Sinclair 
in  their  "History  of  Hereford  Cattle" 
say:  "Lord  Berwick's  sale  catalogue  of 
Sept.  23,  1858,  extends  his  pedigree,  stat- 
ing, in  notes  to  lots  34  and  102,  that  he 
was  the  son  of  Duchess,  and  this  is  cor- 
roborated in  a  note  to  lot  1  in  the  Cronk- 
hill  sale  catalogue  of  Sept.  17,  1861,  when 
the  herd  was  dispersed  after  Lord  Ber- 
wick's death.  If  this  extension  is  cor- 
rect the  pedigree  of  Sir  David  should 
stand  thus:  Sire,  Chance  (348);  dam, 
Duchess  by  Chance;  grandam,  Old 
Duchess  by  White  Nob  (345):  great- 
grandam  by  Young  Wellington  (505)." 

The  real  significance  of  the  impor- 
tance of  Sir  David,  in  Hereford  history 
is  to  be  seen  in  the  character  of  his 
offspring  and  his  descendants.  One  of 
his  most  prepotent  sons  was  Sir  Ben- 
jamin (1387),  an  animal  that  became 
famous  in  the  show  ring  as  well  as  a 
breeder.  Sir  Benjamin  was  sire  of  Sir 
Richard,  a  bull  that  was  second  at  the 
Royal  show  in  1858  at  Chester  and  first 
at  the  Leed's  Royal  in  1861.  He  also 
was  a  prize  winner  at  Hereford,  Lud- 
low  and  Leominster.  Sir  Benjamin  was 
an  illustration  of  the  value  of  crossing 
blood  lines  that  would  nick  well  to- 
g^ther,  for  he  was  the  result  of  a  union 
of  Sir  David  with  Mr.  Rogers'  Pretty- 
maid  family.  Sir  David  was  11  years  of 
age  when  Sir  Benjamin  was  calved. 

An  important  granddaughter  of  Sir 
David  sired  by  Sir  Benjamin  was  Queen 
of  Lilies  (1387).  She  won  the  first  prize 
at  the  Royal  show  at  Manchester  in  1869, 
and  she  was  also  a  winner  at  the  Bath 
and  West  of  England  show  at  South- 
ampton. She  was  bought  by  the  Earl 
of  Southesk  and  was  later  purchased  by 
Philip  Turner  of  the  Leen,  in  whose 
hands  she  became  a  great  breeding  cow. 

Pembridge  (721)  *was  another  famous 
son  of  this  bull,  and  he  is  described  as 
being  "a  larger  and  grander  bull  than 
Sir  Benjamin;  of  great  constitution  and 
very  level  all  over;  in  color  very  dark, 
with  a  beautifully  soft  and  abundant 
coat  of  long,  wavy  hair  and  little  white." 
He  was  winning  calf  at  the  Royal  show 
at  Norwich  in  1849,  and  was  first  in 
class  at  the  Royal  in  1852  at  Leeds,  while 
he  was  a  winner  at  both  Ludlow  and 
Hereford.  Referring  to  Pembridge,  Wil- 
liam Housman  says  that  he  also  in- 
herited Sir  David's  marvelous  impressive 
power. 

—40— 


Stan  way  (2790),  bred  by  William  Tudge, 
and  the  first-prize  aged  Hereford  bull 
at  the  Royal  at  Oxford  in  1870,  was  a 
great-grandson  of  Sir  David.  In  fact, 
as  one  glances  along  down  the  line  of 
great  show  winners  in  England  between 
1850  and  1870,  he  must  be  impressed  with 
the  great  part  the  blood  of  Sir  David 
plays  in  the  pedigrees  of  these  animals. 
Here  one  finds  sons  and  daughters, 
grandsons  and  granddaughters,  and  still 
others,  winning  the  choicest  places  in 
Hereford  competition. 

Back  to  Sir  David  do  we  trace  some 
of  the  choicest  blood  lines  of  American 
Hereford  stock.  Corrector  and  Improver, 
two  of  T.  F.  B.  Sotham's  great  bulls, 
trace  back  on  both  sire  and  dam's  side 
to  Sir  David.  The  Grove  3d  2490,  Earl 
of  Shadeland  22d  27147.  Garfield  7015,  Sir 
Richard  2d  970a,  Cassio  11353  and  a  host 
of  others  descend  in  various  degrees 
from  Sir  David. 

British  authors  that  discuss  the  Here- 
ford breed  pay  high  tribute  to  this  bull. 
William  Housman,  one  of  the  very  best 
authorities  on  the  beef  breeds  in  Eng- 
land, in  his  excellent  work  on  "Cattle, 
Their  Breeds  and  Management,"  refer- 
ring to  this  bull,  says:  "The  iafluence 
of  Sir  David  as  a  sire  proved  t||rbe  one 
of  those  extraordinary  powers  which  in 
the  histories  of  breeds  occasionally  rise 
up  far  beyond  the  expectations  of  the 
breeders  from  whose  herds  they  come 
forth."  He  further  says:  "It  is  not 
possible  here  to  enumerate  the  illustrious 
descendants  of  Sir  David:  the  prize  lists 
of  the  leading  agricultural  societies  are 
full  of  them."  Macdonald  and  Sinclair, 
in  their  work  on  "The  History  of  Here- 
ford Cattle,"  class  Sir  David  as  "one  of 
the  most  influential  sires  known  in  the 
history  of  the  Hereford  or  of  any  other 
breed  of  cattle." 

This  bull  was  used  in  eight  different 
herds,  but  he  was  most  intimately  iden- 
tified perhaps  with  those  of  Edward 
Price,  Court  House,  Pembridge,  and 
Lord  Berwick,  at  Cronkhill.  He  passed 
his  latter  days  in  Lord  Berwick's  herd, 
where  he  sired  a  number  of  animals  of 
merit,  including  Conqueror  (1929).  At  15 
years  of  age  he  was  sold  to  a  butcher— 
a  most  miserable  and  degraded  ending 
for  a  bull  that  had  contributed  so  much 
during  a  long  lifetime  to  the  uplifting  of 
a  breed.  Certainly  he  was  entitled  to 
a  more  generous  treatment  in  the  sunset 
of  life. 

—41— 


American  literature  contains  but  scant 
reference  to  Sir  David.  Yet  many  of 
the  comments  on  the  Hereford  breed 
pay  tribute  to  him  through  the  lauda- 
tion which  comes  to  his  descendants. 
Yet  a  half  century  is  a  long  time  in  the 
history  of  a  breed,  and  animals  of  emi- 
nence to-day  in  the  space  of  time  become 
rapidly  forgotten.  The  student  of  Here- 
ford pedigree,  however,  that  carries  his 
work  back  to  foundation  stock  will  read- 
ily comprehend  the  importance  of  Sir 
David  in  this  connection. 


—42— 


XII 


It  is  an  interesting  coincidence  that 
some  of  the  most  famous  of  Hereford 
cattle  bred  in  England  were  favored  with 
titled  names.  Sovereign,  Sir  David  and 
now  Lord  Wilton  (4740)  4057,  were  all  of 
the  highest  character  in  their  generation. 
The  latter  individual,  however,  was  the 
sensational  bull  of  his  day,  and  in  all 
that  goes  to  make  a  great  bull  he  perhaps 
may  be  regarded  as  the  greatest  Here- 
ford sire  in  history.  His  story  runs  after 
this  manner: 

Lord  Wilton  was  bred  by  William 
Tudge  of  Adforton,  England,  and  was 
calved  Aug.  30,  1873.  His  sire  was  Sir 
Roger  (4133)  3850,  and  his  dam  was  Lady 
Claire  by  Marmion  (3242)  4117.  On  the 
side  of  the  sire  Lord  Wilton  traces  back 
to  Sir  David  through  Sir  Roger,  Sir 
Thomas  and  Sir  Benjamin.  On  the  dam's 
side,  second  dam  Lady  Adforton,  by  Pilot 
(2156),  third  dam  Lady  Ashford,  by  Car- 
bonel  (1525),  fourth  dam  Lady,  by  Orle- 
ton  (901),  fifth  dam  Lady,  by  Nelson 
(1021),  sixth  dam  Lady,  by  Turpin  (300), 
seventh  dam  Lady,  by  Tully  bull.  On 
both  sire  and  dam  side  Sir  David  is  no 
unimportant  factor  in  Lord  Wilton's  ped- 
igree. 

In  Mr.  Tudge's  hands  Lord  Wilton  as 
a  calf  won  first  in  class  in  1874  at  the 
shows  at  Leominster  and  Ludlow,  though 
his  half  brother,  Regulator  (4898),  won 
over  him  at  the  Royal  show  at  Bedford, 
and  at  the  Bath  and  West  of  England  at 
Bristol,  and  the  Hereford  Agricultural  at 
Hereford  in  1874.  In  1875,  as  a  yearling, 
with  Regulator  out  of  the  contest,  Lord 
Wilton  won  first  place  in  class  at  the 
Royal  Agricultural  Society  of  England 
show  at  Taunton,  at  the  Bath  and  West 
of  England  show  at  Croydon,  and  the 
Hereford  Agricultural  society  show  at 
Hereford.  He  had,  however,  been  pur- 
chased at  the  Croydon  show  by  Lewis 
Lloyd  of  Monk's  Orchard,  Surrey,  and 
from  Hereford  he  went  to  his  new  home. 
Here  he  sired  some  superior  stock,  and 
especially  steers,  that  were  shown  at 
Smithfield,  but  the  herd  was  not  in  the 
Hereford  district,  and  little  attention  was 
directed  to  him.  In  1879  Mr.  Lloyd  ex- 
hibited Lord  Wilton  at  the  Kilburn  In- 

—.43— 


ternational  show,  but  he  was  not  in  the 
best  form,  and  could  only  get  the  place  of 
"commended."  Here  T.  J.  Carwardine 
of  St,ocktonbury,  Leominster,  was  at- 
tracted to  him,  and  after  negotiating  with 
Mr.  Lloyd  exchanged  him  for  a  bull  calf 
and  £5  ($25).  In  1881,  in  Mr.  Carwardine's 
possession,  Lord  Wilton  won  first  and 
championship  against  all  breeds  at  Lord 
Tredegar's  show  at  Newport,  and  again 
at  the  same  show  in  1882,  defeating  this 
latter  year  Mr.  Rogers'  Archibald  (6290). 
At  Leominster  in  1882  he  was  in  the  bull, 
caw  and  offspring  class,  and  helped  se- 
cure the  first  place,  while  this  same  year 
he  was  the  first  prize  bull  at  the  Shrop- 
shire and  West  Midland  show  at  Ludlow. 
This  closed  his  show  yard  career. 

Writing  of  Lord  Wilton's  personal 
characteristics,  William  Housman  has 
thus  expressed*  himself:  "Lord  Wilton 
does  not  fill  the  eye  as  an  absolutely  big 
bull,  but  he  has  ample  proportionate 
length,  and,  like  the  Adforton  bulls  in 
general,  a  robust  character,  the  bone  not 
too  heavy,  but  made  to  bear  a  great 
weight  of  beef,  and.  he  furnishes  heavily 
in  the  fore  -flank  and  other  flesh  points. 
His  head  has  plenty  of  width  across  the 
upper  part,  not  too  much  length  in  the 
lower  part.  The  horns  of  medium  size 
for  a  Hereford,  and  of  inward  and  de- 
scending curve,  harmonize  with  the  kind- 
ly, open  countenance,  and  the  hanging 
lap  of  surplus  skin  gives  masculine  depth 
from  ear  to'  throat." 

Further  evidence  as  to  the  character  of 
this  bull  is  quoted  from  an  unnamed 
English  paper  in  Shadeland  Farm  cata- 
logue, as  follows:  "At  10  years  old  he 
carries  a  magnificent  form  and  appear- 
ance, being  very  massive,  oroad  and 
deep,  standing  low  to  ground,  with  great 
solidity  and  substance,  but  remarkably 
even,  and  no  coarseness  whatever.  One 
striking  feature  is  his  full,  deep  chest 
and  great  girth  behind  the  shoulders, 
with  fullness  at  crops,  chines  and  loins." 

The  death  of  Mr.  Carwardine  resulted 
in  it  being  necessary  to  sell  his  herd,  so 
that  it  was  put  up  at  public  auction  by 
Alfred  Edwards  on  Aug.  28  and  29,  1884. 
This  was  the  great  sale  in  Hereford 
history,  -and  Lord  Wilton  was  its  stellar 
attraction.  In  the  Christmas  number  of 
the  Breeder's  Gazette  for  1900  John  Hill, 
who  iiiterestingly  writes  "The  Story  of 
Lord  Wilton,"  gives  the  following  ac- 
count of  his  placing  under  the  hammer: 

—44— 


"The  sale  at  Stocktonbury  brought  to- 
gether a  very  large  company,  and  specu- 
lation ran  high  as  to  what  the  animals 
would  realize.  Prices  exceeded  even 
what  was  expected,  and  when  the  great 
bull  came  into  the  ring  the  excitement 
was  intense.  The  two  last  bidders  were 
Sir  James  Rankin,  M.  P.,  and  Mr. 
Vaughan.  When  the  sum  of  3,000  guineas 
was  reached  there  was  a  pause.  Sir 
James  unfortunately  had  to  leave  before 
the  bull  was  offered,  or  the  result  would 
probably  have  been  different.  He  left 
his  bailiff,  Mr.  Shaw,  with  instructions 
to  secure  Lord  Wilton,  and,  sitting  close 
to  Mr.  Shaw  and  just  above  where  Mr. 
Vaughan  was  standing,  I  heard  the 
former  bid  3,700  guineas;  then  the  latter 
capped  it  with  an  offer  of  3,800  ($19,000). 
Mr.  Shaw,  in  the  absence  of  his  em- 
ployer, prudently  retired  from  the  con- 
test and  the  hammer  fell.  A  most  re- 
grettable incident  afterward  occurred, 
the  purchaser  failing  to  find  the  amount 
due.  It  ended  in  a  further  auction  the 
following  spring,  and  Lord  Wilton  be- 
came the  joint  property  of  Messrs.  Wil- 
liam Tudge  of  Leinthall  and  Thomas 
Fenn  of  Downton,  at  1,000  guineas 
($5,000)." 

The  success  of  Lord  Wilton's  offspring 
in  the  show  ring  first  attracted  attention 
in  1881,  when  the  bulls  Sir  Bartle  Prere 
(6682)  6419  and  Romeo  and  the  heifers 
Venus  and  Henrietta  were  first  in  their 
classes  at  the  Royal  Agricultural  society 
of  England  show  at  Derby.  Mr.  Carwar- 
dine  brought  his  herd  prominently  before 
the  public  at  the  important  shows,  "and 
its  constant  successes  became  the  chief 
subject  of  conversation  in  the  Hereford 
world,  both  at  home  and  abroad." 

Many  of  Lord  Wilton's  sons  and 
daughters  have  attained  fame  in  both 
show  ring  and  the  breeding  herd.  Sir 
Bartle  Frere  was  purchased  by  Adams 
Earl  for  his  famous  Shadeland  herd  at 
Lafayette,  Ind.,  he  paying  $3,000  for  him. 
He  won  the  most  distinguished  honors 
in  the  leading  English  and  American 
shows,  as  well  as  siring  many,  great 
sons  and  daughters,  both  for  Mr.  Carwar- 
dine  and  Mr.  Earl.  He  died  in  service 
at  Shadeland  in  his  seventeenth  year,  a 
great  son  of  a  great  sire.  Sir  Bartle 
Frere,  Monarch,  Hotspur  and  Grove 
Wilton  3d— all  sons  of  Lord  Wilton- 
were  all  first-prize  winners  at  the  Royal 
show  in  England,  as  were  also  his  daugh- 
ters Venus,  Henrietta  and  Dorothea. 

—45—  ' 


The  offspring  of  the  above  sons  and 
daughters  also  took  prominent  place  at 
the  Royal  and  other  shows.  Monarch 
had  three  sons  that  were  Royal  winners, 
while  another  son  of  Lord  Wilton,  named 
Baugham,  had  two  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters that  were  Royal  prize  winners. 
Other  sons  of  Lord  Wilton  that  had 
prize-winning  offspring  at  the  Royal  on 
different  years  unite  to  make  a  most 
remarkable  showing  for  this  bull.  It  is 
a  record  that  perhaps  cannot  be  equaled 
in  British  cattle  history. 

Lord  Wilton  died  in  May,  1886,  of  heart 
disease  while  still  owned  by  Messrs. 
Tudge  and  Fenn.  While  the  loss  was 
great,  he  left  in  their  possession  some 
very  choice  stock,  which  materially  as- 
sisted in  maintaining  the  reputation  of 
these  well-known  herds.  Lord  Wilton 
blood  has  been  extensively  distributed 
over  America  through  his  transported 
sons  and  daughters  and  their  descend- 
ants, much  to  the  adyantage  of  our 
herds.  To  him  American  Hereford  breed- 
ers are  indebted  for  much  that  is  best 
in  their  herds. 


XIII 

CHAMPION  OF  ENGLAND 

(17526) 

Up  in  north  Scotland,  in  a  land  of 
rugged  worth,  developed  Scotland's 
greatest  Shorthorn  breeder,  Amos 
Cruickshank.  Taking  up  his  work  along 
in  the  latter  years  of  the  days  of  Thomas 
Bates,  he  sought  to  develop  a  class  of 
Shorthorns  of  pronounced  constitutional 
vigor,  thick  fleshed,  early  maturing  and 
compact  of  form.  Patient,  quiet,  deter- 
mined, he  held  to  his  task  and  sought 
to  create  his  ideals.  Finally,  after  more 
than  a  score  of  years,  came  a  bull  calf 
into  his  hands  that  furnished  the  long 
lacking  medium  of  improvement. 

Champion  of  England  (17526)  was 
dropped  on  Nov.  29,  1859.  He  was  a  roan 
in  color  and  had  for  a  sire  Lancaster 
Comet  (11663),  while  he  was  out  of  Virtue 
by  Plantagenet  (11906).  Lancaster  Comet 
was  used  in  the  herd  of  Mr.  Wilkinson, 
and  he  was  a  grandson  of  Will  Honey- 
comb (5660)  on  both  sire  and  dam's  side, 
a  thick-fleshed,  level-backed,  deep- 
bodied,  short-legged  bull  of  much  qual- 
ity. Lancaster  Comet  had  a  coarse  horn 
and  head  and  was  not  much  admired  by 
Cruickshank  until  his  real  worth  as  a 
breeder  became  demonstrated.  Verdant, 
by  The  Exchequer  (9721),  the  dam  of 
Virtue,  was  a  thick-fleshed  cow  of  real 
merit,  bred  by  Cruickshank.  She  had 
twin  heifers,  Virtue  and  Verdure,  by 
Plantagenet,  and  they  both  proved  great 
breeders.  Verdure  was  the  dam  of  Scar- 
let Velvet  (16916),  a  bull  of  much  value 
in  the  herd  of  Campbell  of  Kinellar. 
Virtue,  the  dam  of  Champion  of  Eng- 
land, is  said  to  have  been  a  red  cow 
with  some  white,  rather  given  to  ex- 
cessive milk  production  when  suckling 
a  calf,  and  fleshing  readily  when  dry. 
The  ancestry  of  Champion  of  England 
•shows  that  he  was  entitled  to  inherit 
the  valued  qualities  of  the  beef-produc- 
ing Shorthorn. 

As  a  calf  Champion  of  England  did 
not  excite  large  expectations.  He  was 

—47—    - 


exhibited  in  1861  at  the  Royal  Agricul- 
tural society  of  England  show  at  Leeds, 
but  did  not  secure  a  place.  This  was 
due  to  the  fact  that  he  was  in  the  year- 
ling class  and  had  to  compete  against 
2-year-olds.  At  Aberdeen,  Scotland,  he 
succeeded  in  winning  third  place.  The 
fact  was,  Champion  of  England  was  nor 
an  outstanding  show  animal,  and  this 
fact  for  a  time  led  Cruickshank  to  con- 
sider selling  him.  Yet  his  owner  finally 
decided  that  he  was  worth  a  trial,  for 
he  had  plenty  of  quality  and  thriftiness. 
Robert  Bruce,  writing  of  him  only  two 
years  ago  in  the  Breeder's  Gazette,  said: 
"It  has  often  been  to  me  a  matter  of 
regret  that  I  did  not  look  at  this  bull 
more  carefully  when  I  saw  him  at  Sitty- 
ton.  At  that  time  I  was  deeply  smitten 
by  the  then  fashionable  'pedigree  belief,' 
and  such  a  bull  as  Champion  of  Eng- 
land, an  animal  having  no  show  yard 
record,  failed  to  interest  me  much.  He 
was  passed  over  with  the  note:  'Good 
animal;  great  covering  of  flesh;  under- 
line not  so  good;  quarters  wanting  fin- 
ish.' The  thickness  and  substance  of  his 
thighs  appeared  to  me  then  to  be  le?s 
desirable  than  the  flat,  wide  thigh  com- 
mon to  the  English  Shorthorns." 

In  an  article  on  "Recollections  of  Sit- 
tyton  Cattle,"  also  in  the  Breeder's  Ga- 
zette, by  A.  Chalmers,  who  was  person- 
ally familiar  with  Cruickshank's  herd, 
writing  of  Champion  of  England,  he 
said:  "Champion  of  England  was  a 
production  different  from  the  original 
stock  at  Sittyton,  and  his  formidable 
appearance  was  that  of  strength  and 
constitution — more  bone  and  less  style, 
heavy  head,  thick,  smooth  chine,  stiff 
loin,  hook  bones  slightly  down  from  line 
of  back,  smooth,  well-filled  rumps,  with 
square  hindquarter  and  heavy  twist." 
It  may  also  be  said  additional  to  the 
above  that  he  was  extremely  strong  in 
his  foreribs  and  showed  in  his  develop- 
ment great  feeding  capacity.  His  droop- 
ing hindquarters  he  very  likely  inherited 
from  his  dam,  "a  good-sized  red  animal 
with  plainish  hindquarters,"  says  Mr. 
Jamieson. 

Champion  of  England  not  being  a 
strong  candidate  for  the  show  ring,  his 
reputation  must  thus  be  due  to  his  merit 
as  a  breeder.  And  here  lay  his  pre-' 
eminent  merit.  It  was  soon  seen  that 
he  was  getting  calves  of  the  broad- 
chested,  full-ribbed^  thick-fleshed,  short- 
legged  class.  As  used  in  the  Sittyton 

—48— 


herd,  says  Chalmers,  he  gave  Cruick- 
shank's  Shorthorns  "more  strength  of 
frame,  with  less  inclination  to  width  of 
hook  bone,  increased  the  weight  of 
muscles  and  gave  it  on  essential  points, 
and  the  calves  were  sturdy  at  birth.  In 
the  combination  of  strength  of  frame, 
weight,  quality  and  constitution  all  were 
banded  together  with  no  little  beauty." 

The  use  of  Champion  of  England  began 
ih  the  Cruickshank  herd  in  1860.  Prior 
to  that  time  bulls  of  various  breeding 
had  been  used  in  the  herd.  With  Cham- 
pion of  England,  however,  was  intro- 
duced along  with  the  use  of  other  bulls 
the  practice-  of  in-breeding.  The  best 
of  results  did  not  follow  this  practice  all 
the  time  at  Sittyton,  but  with  Champion 
of  England  and  his  offspring  highly  sat- 
isfactory results  ensued.  As  this  great 
Scotchman  continued  his  career  he  was 
instrumental  in  producing  a  number  of 
great  females  that  became  improvers  of 
the  most  popular  tribes  of  to-day.  In 
this  work  Champion  of  England  was 
most  important.  Bred  to  Mistletoe  by 
Lord  Raglan  (13244),  he  sired  Mimulus, 
a  great  breeding  cow,  the  dam  of  Royal 
Duke  of  Gloster  (29864),  a  very  success- 
ful breeding  bull.  His  sire,  Grand  Duke 
of  Gloster  (26288),  by  Champion  of  Eng- 
land, although  he  died  as  a  2-year-old, 
was  regarded  as  perhaps  his  best  son. 
Princess  Royal,  a  magnificent  daughter 
of  Champion  of  England,  bred  to  Royal 
Duke  of  Gloster,  produced  Roan  Gauntlet 
(35284),  regarded  as  one  of  the  greatest 
if  not  the  greatest  bull  bred  by  Cruick- 
shank, excepting  the  subject  of  this 
sketch.  Roan  Gauntlet  was  sire  of  the 
famous  Field  Marshall  (47870),  the  sire 
of  the  great  cow  Princess  Alice,  im- 
ported to  America  by  Colonel  W.  A. 
Harris.  She  was  dam  of  Royal  Hero 
113611,  the  champion  Shorthorn  bull  in 
America  in  1899,  in  the  ownership  of  W. 
T.  Miller,  Carlos  City,  Ind.  She  was  also 
dam  of  Young  Marshall  110705  and  Royal 
Knight  117203,  both  high-class  bulls. 

Among  the  famous  cows  sired  by 
Champion  of  England,  besides  those 
mentioned,  are  Village  Belle,  Village 
Rose,  Morning  Star,  Britten  Queen,  Car- 
mine Rose,  Silvery,  Surmise,  Circassia, 
Violante,  Finella  and  Victorine.  The 
value  of  this  bull  to  Cruickshank  con- 
sisted iri  the  unusual  merit  of  these  cows 
as  individuals  and  breeders.  Not  only 
this,  but  his  sons  and  grandsons  proved 
such  prepotent  transmitters,  such  su- 

—49— 


perior  individuals,  that  they  produced 
large  results  in  the  Scotch  herds  in 
which  they  were  used.  They  were  found 
to  nick  advantageously  in  those  Scotch 
tribes  that  lacked  rib  and  heavy  fleshing, 
qualities. 

Champion  of  England  will  live  in  his- 
tory as  the  greatest  and  most  potent 
Shqrthorn  sire  of  Scotch  breeding.  It 
would  be  impossible  to  measure  his  in- 
fluence on  the  breed  of  to-day,  but  suf- 
fice it  to  say  that  his  sons  and  daughters 
and  their  descendants  make  up  a  long 
list  of  the  famous  breeding  and  prize- 
winning  Shorthorn  cattle  of  America  as 
well  as  Great  Britain.  His  history  and 
his  influence  merit  careful  study  on  the 
part  of  all  Shorthorn  students. 


—50— 


XIV 


YOUNG  MARY 


.  In  1833  there  was  organized  at  Chilli- 
cothe,.  Ohio,  what  was  known  as  the 
Ohio  ^Breeding  and  Importing  company. 
This  was  a  stock  company  of  prominent 
stockmen,  with  the  real  purpose  in  view 
of  importing  Shorthorn  cattle  to  Amer- 
ica. In  January,  1834,  Felix  Renick  sailed 
to  England,  where,,  as  agent  of  the  com- 
pany, he  purchased  seven  Shorthorn 
bulls  and  twelve  cows.  Among  these 
were  two  yearling  heifers — Young  Phyl- 
lis by  Fairfax  (1023)  and  Young  Mary 
by  Jupiter  and  out  of  Mary  by  Saladin 
(1417)— that  later  became  the  founders 
of  two  of  the  most  popular  and  valuable 
Shorthorn  families  in  America.  The 
former  was  bred  by  the  Earle  of  Carlisle 
and  was  of  very  superior  breeding,  while 
the  latter,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was 
bred  by  J.  Clark,  a  slightly  known 
breeder,  and  did  not  have  a  pedigree  of 
'importance  compared  with  the  other 
cows  imported.  In  England  Young  Mary 
cost  £26.  10s  (about  $130). 

These .  two  heifers  were  taken  to  Ohio 
in  1834  and  placed  upon  the  farm  of 
Felix  Renick  in  Ross  county.  Here 
Young  Mary  was  kept  for  about  two 
years,  when  she  was  sold  at  an  auction 
sale  held  by  the  Ohio  company  on  Felix 
Renick's  Indian  Creek  farm,  on  Oct.  29, 
1836.  This  sale  is  of  special  interest 
from  the,  fact  that  it  was  the  first  com- 
pany Shorthorn  sale  held  in  America. 
Young  Mary,  then  a  4-year-old,  had  a 
heifer  calf  at  foot  named  Pocahontas,  by 
Comet  Halley,  and  the  pair  were  pur- 
chased by  Edwin  J.  Harness  of  Ross 
county  for  $1,500.  That  same  season 
Messrs.  Vanmeter  and  Cunningham  took 
an  interest  in  the  cow  and  calf  with  Mr. 
Harness,  and  by  mutual  agreement  took 
her  to  Kentucky,  where  she  passed  the 
remainder  of  her  life  on  the  farm  of 
Mr.  Cunningham.  Mr.  Harness  died  soon 
after  the  sale,  so  the  heifer  was  then 
owned  by  the  other  two  partners. 

Young  Mary  had  no  show  yard  career, 
neither  was  she  a  distinctly  show  ani- 
mal. Sanders  says  she  is  descrioed  as 
having  been  a  large  cow  of  striking 
appearance,  a  light  roan  in  color,  with 
some  white,  especially  on  her  legs.  Her 
horns,  which  were  inclined  to  be  "crum- 

—51— 


pled,"  were  rather  strong  and  well  car- 
ried out  from  her  head,  which  was  broad 
and  well  shaped,  with  a  good  full  eye. 
Her  neck  was  rather  thin,  shoulders 
smooth,  back  broad,  rib  deep,  udder 
large  and  good.  She  was  characterized 
as  being  .a  remarkable  milker  and  one 
of  the  best  milking  Shorthorns  owned 
in  the  Vanmeter  herds.  During  the  early 
stages  of  lactation,  if  on  grass,  she  pro- 
duced "a  large  pailful  of  milk  morning 
and  evening  after  the  calf  had  drunk  its 
fill." 

Young  Mary  proved  to  be  a  very  long 
lived  and  prolific  cow.  While  authori- 
ties do  not  entirely  agree,  she  at  least 
lived  to  be  21  years  old,  having  a  heifer 
calf  then,  which  soon  died.  B.  F.  Van- 
meter,  a  grandson  of  Captain  Cunning- 
ham, gave  her  produce  as  sixteen  heifers 
and  four  bulls.  Her  first  calf  was  a  roan 
bull  named  Davy  Crockett,  calved  on 
Dec.  5,  1834,  and  sired  by  a  bull  Clark. 
Her  second  calf,  another  roan  bull, 
named  Logan,  was  sired  by  Duke  of 
York  (1941),  and  was  dropped  Oct.  27, 
1835.  These  two  bulls  were  sold  in  the 
same  sale  Young  Mary  was  in,  and  Davy 
Crockett  was  purchased  at  $490  by  Peter 
L.  Ayres  of  Ohio  and  Logan  by  Jonathan 
Renick  of  Pickaway  county,  Ohio,  at 
$750.  Ayres  was  a  man  w.ho  did  not  keep 
up  his  pedigrees,  and  no  record  is  left 
of  the  influence  of  Davy  Crockett.  Po- 
cahontas,  the  third  calf  of  Young  Mary, 
was  dropped  in  1836,  and  was  sired  by 
Comet  Halle  y  (1855).  Her  fourth  calf 
was  a  red  and  white  bull  named  Romu- 
lus by  Matchem  (2283),  that  was  bred 
in  Kentucky  and  was  bought  by  James 
Stonestreet  of  Clark  county,  who  used 
him  in  but  a  small  way  on  pure-bred 
stock.  Besides  the  above,  by  the  bull 
Goldfinder  (2066)  she  produced  five  calves 
—viz.,  Hannah  Moore,  Judith  Clark, 
Lilac,  Florida  and  Sarah  Hopkins — that 
developed  into  high-class,  valuable  cows. 
Hannah  Moore  was  a  very  successful 
show  cow,  was  well  known  on  the  Ken- 
tucky fair  grounds  and  is  said  to  have 
been  undefeated.  In  1886  William  War- 
field,  than  whom  there  is  no  greater 
authority,  wrote:  "There  never  has  been 
a  time  since  1836  when  Young  Marys 
and  Young  Phyllises  were  not  winners 
in  the  show  rings  of  Kentucky,  and  ap- 
parently there  will  never  be  such  a 
time." 

Sanders  in  his  history  of  Shorthorn 
cattle  states  that  Young  Mary  produced 

—52— 


four  bull  calves,  including  besides  the 
above  a  roan  bull,  Tom  Bigbee  by  Prince 
Albert  2d,  calved  in  1848,  that  proved  a 
show  bull.  The  records,  however,  would 
make  it  appear  that  she  had  a  fifth  bull 
calf,  for  Bulmer,  Jr.  302,  by  Bulmer  300, 
on  page  109  of  volume  2  of  the  Shorthorn 
herd  book,  is  given  as  a  son  of  Young 
Mary  by  Jupiter.  This  statement,  how- 
ever, William  Warfield  informs  me,  is  not 
true,  and  should  have  been  corrected 
years  ago  in  the  herd  book.  When 
the  Isaac  Cunningham  herd  was  auc- 
tioned off  in  1855  nineteen  head  of  "thor- 
oughbred Durham  cows"  catalogued  with 
one  exception  were  Young  Marys.  Of 
these  two  were  from  Pocahontas,  ten 
from  Hannah  Moore,  four  from  Judith 
Clark  and  two  from  Lilac — all  daughters 
of  Young  Mary.  At  Solomon  Vanmeter's 
sale  in  1859,  when  thirty-seven  females 
were  sold,  nineteen  were  Young  Marys. 

Hannah  Moore  and  Pocahontas  were 
the  most  useful  daughters  of  Young 
Mary.  The  former  was  foundress  of  the 
Beck  Taylor,  Leslie  and  Flat  Creek 
branches  of  the  family,  and  the  latter  of 
the  Red  Rose.  Judith  Clark,  one  of  the 
other  daughters,  was  a  valuable  breeder, 
the  Grace  Youngs  and  Leopardess  strains 
descending  from  her. 

The  great  breeding  value  of  the  blood 
of  Young  Mary  became  manifest  at  once 
in  the  mating  of  John  Randolph  603,  a 
son  of  Young  Phyllis  (imp.)  to  Hannah 
Moore,  from  which  came  Queen  Anne 
that  was  later  the  dam  of  Albert  Gal- 
latin  202,  by  Prince  Albert  2d  857. 

A  daughter  of  Hannah  Moore  named 
Beck  was  mated  with  much  success  to 
to  a  show  Young  Phyllis  bull,  Dick  Tay- 
lor, resulting  in  a  red  heifer  that  was 
named  Beck  Taylor.  She  was  foundress 
of  a  popular  branch  of  the  Young  Mary 
tribe.  From  Pocahontas  was  descended 
two  remarkable  Red  Rose  cows,  owned 
by  Ben  F.  Vanmeter,  Red  Rose  8th  and 
llth.  These  became  famous  show  cows 
iri  some  of  the  greatest  shows  in  Ken- 
tucky. Red  Rose  8th  was  champion 
Shorthorn  cow  at  the  Philadelphia  cen- 
tennial. Her  sister  was  also  a  prize 
cow  at  the  same  show.  Later  the  Grooms 
of  Kentucky  bought  and  exported  Red 
Rose  8th  to  England,  where  she  was 
sold  for  $1,750,  while  Red  Rose  llth  was 
purchased  by  Mr.  Fox  of  the  same  coun- 
try at  $2,325.  A  son  of  Red  Rose  llth 
was  champion  4-year-old  steer  at  the 
first  American  fat  stock  show  held  at 
Chicago. 

—53— 


Young  Mary  breeding  met  with  very 
great  favor  in  the  middle  west  along  in 
the  '70s.  C.  M.  Thomas,  writing  of  Ken- 
tucky Shorthorns  in  the  Breeder's  Ga- 
zette (Aug.  1,  1900),  says:  "Not  one  but 
several  chapters  would  be  required  to  tell 
of  the  glorious  achievements  of  Young 
Mary  and  her  produce."  The  Shorthorn 
catalogues  of  those  days  were  loud  in 
their  praise  of  the  blood  of  this  family. 
One  catalogue  says:  "Her  descendants 
are  counted  by  the  score  in  almost  every 
state  where  Shorthorns  are  bred.  They 
have  won  lasting  honors  in  "many  well 
contested  show  rings  all  over  the  land 
and  for  useful  qualities  they  have  few 
equals." 

The  fame  of  Young  Mary  blood  was 
world-wide,  and  as  late  as  1887  a  writer 
in  the  London  Live  Stock  Journal  writes: 
"Most  of  the  Shorthorns  bred  in  America 
are  of  tribes  which  had  won  great  dis- 
tinction here  before  the  frrst  of  it 
'crossed  the  water.'  Still  there  are  ex- 
ceptions; and  the  Young  Marys,  one 
of  the  greatest  families  in  the  states,  had 
no  reputation  to  speak  of  when  the  first' 
was  taken  out." 

Since  the  setting  in  of  the  Scotch 
Shorthorn  tide  the  Young  Mary  family 
has  not  attracted  so  much  attention  from 
the  younger  breeders;  neither  is  its  his- 
tory so  well  known  by  the  present  gen- 
eration. However,  Young  Mary,  as  its 
foundress,  may  justly  be  regarded  as  one 
of  the  most  distinguished  and  valuable 
of  the  pioneer  Shorthorn  dams  of  Amer- 
ica. 


—54— 


XV 


BLACK  KNIGHT  4751 


Among  the  really  great  Aberdeen-An- 
gus herds  of  cattle  that  have  been  in  ex- 
istence in  the  United  States  was  that  of 
T.  W.  Harvey  of  Chicago  at  Turlington, 
Neb.  The  development  of  this  herd  be- 
gan along  in  the  early  '80s,  and  William 
Watson,  familiarly  known  as  "Uncle  Wil- 
lie," a  son  of  the  famous  Hugh  Watson 
of  Keillor,  Scotland,  was  herd  manager 
during  the  most  interesting  part  of  its 
history. 

Black  Knight  4751  (5887)  was  bred  by 
Gudgell  &  Simpson  of  Independence,  Mo., 
And  was  calved  on  Oct.  30,  1883.  His  sire 
was  Knight  of  St.  Patrick  (2194)  354,  and 
his  dam  Blackcap  (4C42)  1552. 

The  importance  of  this  parentage  of 
Black  Knight  is  first  worthy  of  consid- 
eration. His  sire,  Knight  of  St.  Patrick, 
was  a  great  show  bull  in  Scotland  and 
America.  He  was  bred  by  R.  C.  Auld, 
Bridgend,  Scotland,  and  in  1881  won  the 
Highland  and  Agricultural  society  silver 
medal  as  the  best  bull  at  the  Leochel- 
Cushnie  Agricultural  society  show  in 
Scotland.  Soon  after,  in  1882,  he  was  im- 
ported to  America  by  Gudgell  &  Simpson 
of  Independence,  Mo.  Thereafter  his 
merit  as  a  show  bull  became  manifest. 
In  1882  he  was  first  in  class  at  Minneap- 
olis and  St.  Louis,  and  was  also  sweep- 
stakes bull  at  the  latter  show.  He  also 
headed  the  herd  of  five  cows  that  won 
first  place  at  Minneapolis  and  St.  .Louis 
for  being  the  best  polled  herd,  while  at 
Kansas  City  he  headed  the  best  herd  of 
any  breed.  In  1883  Knight  of  St.  Patrick 
was  first  in  class  at  Minneapolis,  Des 
Moines,  Kansas  City  and  St.  Louis,  and 
sweepstakes  bull  at  the  latter  show.  He 
also  headed  the  herd  which  won  first  at 
Minneapolis  and  St.  Louis  as  the  best 
polled  herd,  and  was  first  at  Topeka, 
Kan.,  as  the  best  herd  of  any  breed. 
Knight  of  St.  Patrick  was  out  of  Pride 
of  Aberdeen  10th  (3250)  355,  and  was  a 
grandson  on  both  sides  of  Pride  of  Aber- 

—55— 


deen  5th  356,  a  daughter  of  the  famous 
Paris  show  cow  Pride  of  Aberdeen,  shown 
by  McCombie.  Thus  Knight  of  St.  Pat- 
rick, as  a  result  of  inheritance,  deserved 
to  be  a  great  show  bull  and  breeder,  and 
this  inheritance  he  transmitted  to  his  son 
Black  Knight.  Blackcap,  the  dam  of 
Black  Knight,  was  the  most  noted  cow  in 
the  herd  of  Gudgell  &  Simpson,  and  was 
a  most  unusual  breeder.  She  was  bred 
by  Sir  George  MacPherson  Grant  at  Bal- 
lindalloch,  Scotland,  and  cost  Gudgell  & 
Simpson  $2,050.  Not  only  was  she  re- 
garded as  one  of  the  very  best  cows  in 
the  Scotch  herd,  but  Gudgell  &  Simpson 
thought  her  the  best  cow  by  far  in  their 
herd.  She  was  out  of  Blackcap  of 
Corskie  3d,  733,  and  was  four  generations 
from  Lady  Ida,  from  whom  the  Black- 
bird tribe  derived  its  foundress. 

T.  W.  Harvey  purchased  the  subject  of 
this  sketch  from  Gudgell  &  Simpson  for 
$2,000,  and  he  was  taken  to  Turlington 
early  in  1886  by  Mr.  Watson,  wnen  he  be- 
gan service  there. 

Black  Knight  was  not  purchased  for 
the  show  ring,  but  for  the  breeding  herd, 
and  as  a  sire  he  made  his  fame.  As  an 
individual,  however,  he  was  a  fine  type 
of  the  breed,  and  is  described  as  low, 
deep  and  thick,  with  back,  loin  and  quar- 
ter covered  with  a  thick  layer  of  flesn 
most  smoothly  laid  on.  He  also  had  a 
well-developed  crest  and  a  beautiful 
head,  while  as  a  whole  he  was  stylish  and 
possessed  much  quality  and  finish. 

The  real,  transcendant  fame  of  this  bull 
came  in  1893  as  a  result  of  the  Angus 
show  at  the  World's  Columbian  Exposi- 
tion. Three  daughter  of  his — Abbess  of 
Turlington  9327,  Progress  of  Turlington 
7116,  and  Heather  Bloom  of  Turlington 
7117 — were  placed  in  one,  two,  three  order 
in  the  aged  cow  class.  Abbess  and  Prog- 
ress were  veritable  sensations.  In  its  re- 
view of  the  Angus  show  or>  this  occasion 
the  correspondent  of  the  Breeder's  Ga- 
zette wrote:  "These  two  marvels  of  the 
cattle  breeder's  art  can  neither  be  ade- 
quately described  nor  satisfactorily  de- 
lineated. The  readiest  of  writers  and  the 
cleverest  of  artists  may  strive  in  vain  to 
convey  to  the  minds  of  those  who  have 
not  seen  the  animals  any  clear-cut  con- 
ception of  their  character.  They  are  as 
fine  and  neat  as  they  are  big;  as  wide  as 
they  are  low,  as  thick  at  the  ends  as  in 
their  middles,  as  round  and  full  and  deep 
and  smooth  as  nature's  laws  allow  in  the 

—56— 


cattle  kind."  Besides  these,  Heather  Lad 
2d  7965,  a  son  of  Black  Knight,  out  of 
Rosa  Bonheur  of  Turlington,  at  6  years 
old  was  first  in  class  at  the  Columbian 
exposition.  This  bull  was  bought  at  auc- 
tion by  Wallace  Estill  of  Estill,  Mo.,  for 
$465,  and  was  regarded  as  one  of  the 
great  Angus  bulls  of  America.  He  be- 
came a  great  breeder,  being  the  sire  of 
Gay  Blackbird  1443,  third  prize  2-year-old 
at  the  Columbian,  a  most  excellent  bull, 
and  numerous  others.  In  fact,  over 
three-fourths  of  the  first  prize  winners 
at  the  Columbian  exposition  were  sired 
by  Black  Knight  or  his  sons. 

At  the  Turlington  sale  Wallace  Estill 
purchased  Abbess  for  $825,  and  she 
proved  to  be  a  most  excellent  breeder. 
Rumor  has  it  that  Leslie  &  Burwell  of- 
fered the  equivalent  of  $4,000  for  Progress, 
which  was  refused.  Both  of  these  <  cows 
were  very  large,  weighing  in  show 'form 
about  2000  pounds  or  more  each. 

Black  Knight  died  June  20,  1891,  at  8 
years  of  age,  and  forty-eight  hours  pre- 
ceding his  death  was  in  perfect  health. 
His  last  calf  was  a  bull,  Proud  Black 
Knight  16738,  calved  on  Oct.  26,  1891.  His 
loss  was  so  keenly  felt  by  Mr.  Harvey 
that  he  remarked  that  he  would  rather 
have  sunk  $10,000  in  the  sea  than  put 
Black  Knight  under  ground,  for  on  him 
he  based  much  of  his  success  as  an  An- 
gus breeder.  So  high  were  the  offspring 
of  this  bull  valued  by  Angus  breeders 
that  during  the  last  four  years  of  his 
life  eighteen  heifers  ranging  in  age  from 
6  to  18  months,  realized  an  average  of 
$425  at  public  sale,  while  nineteen  bulls 
of  similar  age  averaged  $300.  Among 
these  sons  were  Heather  Lad  2d,  Guido 
Knight,  Keillor  Knight  and  Keillor 
Knight  2d,  all  of  very  superior  merit.  At 
the  time  of  Black  Knight's  death  there 
were  thirty  heifers  from  6  months  to  4 
years  old  sired  by  him  on  the  farm  at 
Turlington. 

Blackcap  Judy  40226,  the  sensational 
first  prize  calf  at  the  International  Live 
Stock  Exposition  of  1900,  later  sold  at 
$6,300,  the  record  price  Angus  female  at 
public  sale,  was  out  of  Blackcap  2d  4752, 
a  full  sister  of  Black  Knight.  Waterside 
Blackcap,  another  full  sister,  sold  to 
Geary  Bros,  at  public  sale  for  $2,000. 

With  the  Blackbird  one  of  the  highly 
valued  of  Angus  tribes,  it  will  be  clearly 
seen  that  the  importance  of  the  influence 
of  Black  Knight  on  the  breed  cannot  be 

—57— 


easily  overestimated.  Many  of  the  most 
popular  favorites  of  the  show  ring  of  to- 
day trace  back  four  to  six  generations  to 
this  great  sire.  How  shall  we  measure 
his  greatness?  By  the  opinions  of  men 
as  influenced  by  the  character  of  his  de- 
scendants. These,  in  this  day,  it  may  be 
fairly  said,  designate  Black  Knight  "the 
greatest  Angus  bull  America  has  pro- 
duced." 


—58— 


XVI 


THE  GROVE  3D  (505 1)  2490 


The  career  of  The  Grove  3d  (5051)  2490 
is  full  of  interest  because  of  a  long  life 
of  great  usefulness,  one-half  of  which 
was  spent  in  Europe  and  the  other  half 
in  America.  This  bull  was  born  on  Nov. 
5,  1874,  on  the  farm  of  Benjamin  Rogers, 
known  as  "The  Grove,"  in  Herefordshire, 
England.  Mr.  Rogers  was  one  of  Eng- 
land's most  distinguished  breeders,  and 
this  bull  was  out  of  a  cow  named  Blos- 
som, by  Sir  Thomas,  while  his  sire  was 
Horace  (3877),  one  of  the  epoch  makers. 
Rogers  bred  many  remarkable  cattle,  in- 
cludiijg  Sir  Benjamin,  Prettymaid  2d,  The 
Grove,  Bolingbroke,  Sir  Roger,  Blossom 
and  others. 

The  Grove  3d  did  not  fall  into  the  way 
of  the  show  ring.  With  breeding  of  the 
sort  that  suited  the  choicest  tastes,  and 
with  a  high  degree  of  individual  merit, 
he  met  the  requirements  of  Philip  Turn- 
er of  The  Leen,  Herefordshire,  into  whose 
herd  he  went  into  active  service,  and 
where  he  remained  until  September,  1883, 
when  at  public  sale  he  was  purchased 
by  C.  M.  Culbertson  of  Chicago,  111.,  for 
810  guineas  (about  $4,050). 

At  this  time  the  fame  of  The  Grove  3d 
was  well  established,  and  many  of  the 
best  animals  in  the  Turner  sale  were 
sired  by  him.  The  price  paid  by  Mr.  Cul- 
bertson was  the  highest  price  that  had 
been  paid  for  a  Hereford  up  to  that  time. 
Rudolph  (6660)  13478,  a  son  of  The  Grove 
3d,  was  purchased  privately  by  Mr.  Mor- 
gan of  this  country  for  £700  ($3,500).  Two 
bull  calves  sired  by  The  Grove  3d  sold 
at  the  sale,  one  at  £278  5s,  and  another 
at  £210. 

The  offspring  of  The  Grove  3d  had  at- 
tracted much  attention,  especially  at  the 
shows  in  Hereford  and  at  the  Shropshire 
and  West  Midland  Agricultural.  His 
heifers  were  a  remarkable  lot,  and  for 
three  years  in  succession,  beginning  with 
1882,  Mr.  Turner  captured  first  place  for 
the  four  best  yearling  heifers  of  the  show 
at  Hereford,  all  but  one  exception  being 
daughters  of  The  Grove  3d.  These  were 
Ethel,  Beatrice,  Rosina,  Hawthorn,  for 
1882;  Portia,  Bertha  and  Nina,  for  1883, 


and  Kathleen,  Hilda,  Violet  and  Milli- 
cent,  for  1884.  Some  of  these  heifers  were 
very  unusual  show  animals,  and  later 
proved  great  breeders. 

This  bull  in  Mr.  Culbertson's  choice 
herd  gave  successful  service  for  two 
years,  when  he  was  sold  to  Adams  Earl, 
owner  of  the  Shadeland  herd,  at  La- 
fayette, Ind.,  for  $7,000,  the  record  price 
for  a  Hereford  for  many  years.  When 
sold  by  Mr.  Culbertson  he  had  twelve 
sons  and  fourteen  daughters  of  this  bull 
on  hand,  with  twenty-four  of  his  best 
cows  in  calf  to  him. 

A  great  risk  was  involved  in  buying  at 
such  a  price  at  11  years  of  age,  but  Mr. 
Earl  recognized  that  The  Grove  3d  came 
from  a  long-lived  ancestry,  and  thought 
the  possibilities  justified,  the  chance.  His 
sire,  Horace,  had  sold  at  $2,500  when  9 
years  old,  and  continued  in  active  serv- 
ice till  16.  Sovereign,  from  whom  The 
Grove  3d  descended,*  was  15  years  old 
when  he  sired  Cotmore.  others  in  the 
family  had  lived  to  long  years  of  use- 
fulness. Purchased  at  11  years,  The 
Grove  3d  remained  in  service  at  Shade- 
land  for  a  long  period,  finally  dying  just 
as  he  had  entered  his  eighteenth  year 
on  Dec.  3,  1891.  The  infirmities  of  old  age 
and  the  loss  of  his  teeth  caused  him  to 
gradually  lose  strength  during  the  last 
,year  or  two  of  his  life,  yet  he  gave  up 
tenaciously,  as  became  an  old  veteran. 
Respected  in  life  by  his  owner  and  his 
faithful  attendant,  Uncle  John  Lewis,  the 
herd  manager,  in  the  language  of  Mr. 
Earl,  his  remains  were  "accorded  a  de- 
cent burial." 

The  writer  was  somewhat  familiar 
with  this  great  bull  while  at  Shade- 
land,  but  it  would  seem  appropriate  to 
here  introduce  an  opinion  on  this  bull's 
individuality  as  expressed  by  William 
Housman  in  Bell's  Weekly  Messenger, 
than  whom  there  is  perhaps  no  better 
critic  in  England.  He  is  described  as 
"having  extraordinary  mellowness  of 
skin  and  flesh  of  the  best  kind  and  qual- 
ity for  a  stock  sire,  the  kind  that  in- 
creases fast;  his  very  touch  tells  that 
under  moderate  pressure  of  keep  he 
would  be  soon  thick  fat.  He  had  a  great 
growth  of  fine  hair.  The  rise  of  the 
chine  line  over  the  shoulder  top  into  the 
crest  of  the  neck  was  particularly  mas- 
culine, and  the  head,  not  coarse  nor 
heavy,  was  still  a  bull's  head.  In  his 
hind  quarters  he  inherited  from  Sir 

—60— 


Thomas  the  width  immediately  behind 
the  hips  and  to  midquarter,  but  did  not 
end  off  so  squarely  as  Sir  Thomas  did. 
As  an  old  bull  he  was  as  wide  and  full 
and  square  and  level  as  a  model  fat 
heifer."  The  writer  might  further  add 
that  he  was  a  bull  of  very  short  leg  and 
was  a  high  type  of  a  butcher's  beast,  with 
the  head  of  a  great  breeding  bull.  In  the 
closing  days  of  his  life  one  of  the  pic- 
turesque scenes  at  Shadeland  was  The 
Grove  3d,  reclining  in  the  lot  near  the 
barn,  a  dignified,  veritable  old  monarch 
of  the  highest  Hereford  type. 

This  bull  was  regarded -as  one  of  the 
epoch-making  Hereford  sires.  He  pro- 
duced a  low-down,  blocky,  thick-fleshed 
type  most  valuable  in  improving  the 
breed.  Among  his  sons  to  add  luster 
to  his  fame  were  Cassio  13352,  Hesiod 
11975,  Hartington  4010,  Rudolph  13478, 
Merlin  17929,  Rocket  2d  26793,  Hogarth 
20101,  Earl  Grove  2d,  Earl  Grove  4th  and 
Earl  Grove  6th,  the  latter  three  being 
used  in  the  Shadeland  herd. 

Soon  after  the  death  of  the  bull  in  1891 
Mr.  Earl  wrote  to  the  Breeder's  Gazette: 
"The  daughters  left  by  The  Grove  3d 
at  Shadeland  sustain  the  reputation  of 
the  old  bull  as  a  sire.  They  are  among 
the  cream  of  the  herd.  *  *  *  The  pre- 
potency of  The  Grove  3d  is  manifest  in 
every  herd  which  has  any  of  that  blood. 
They  have  the  best  of  quality,  are  easy 
keepers  and  early  maturers;  have  splen- 
did coats  of  soft,  "heavy  hair;  have 
plenty  of  constitution;  are  good-tem- 
pered (aside  from  an  occasional  Spartan 
nervousness);  have  splendid  heads  and 
bones,  and  very  frequently  are  light  in 
color." 

An  excellent  picture  of  The  Grove  3d 
may  be  seen  in  "The  History  of  Here- 
ford Cattle"  by  Macdonald  and  Sinclair, 
and  also  in  the  Breeder's  Gazette  for 
June  25,  1885.  Thisv  fittingly  shows  his 
dignity,  style  and  impressiveness.  As 
was  well  expressed  by  the  editor  of  the 
above  named  journal  at  the  time  of  his 
death:  "He  was  one  of  those  strikingly 
prepotent  sires  that  now  and  then  come 
upon  the  scene,  one  scarcely  knows  why 
or  how  (for  breeding  is  not  yet  reduced 
to  the  point  where  they  can  be  built  to 
order),  and  that  carve  their  names  and 
their  individuality  upon  the  breed  to 
which  they  belong  in  such  a  manner 
that  for  generations  they  are  referred 
to  as  beasts  that  have  helped  to  make 
bovine  history." 

—61— 


XVII 

DUKE 

OF 

AIRDRIE 

2798 

(12730) 

In  the  beautiful  bluegrass  region  of 
Kentucky,  a  few  miles  west  of  Lexing- 
ton, is  Woodburn,  a  historic  place  in 
Shorthorn  annals.  Here  R.  A.  Alexan- 
der created  a  great  stock  farm,  where 
Thoroughbreds  and  Shorthorns  of  the 
very  best  breeding  and  character  were 
produced.  The  herd  of  Shorthorns  there 
maintained  brought  world-wide  fame  to 
Woodburn.  Mr.  Alexander  had  come 
from  Airdrie  House,  Scotland,  where  was 
the  family  estate,  and  the  bull  Duke  of 
Airdrie  (12730)  9798  was  bred  by  him  on 
this  Scotch  farm,  and  from  which  he 
derived  his  name. 

In  the  winter  of  1852-3  Mr.  Alexander 
and  his  brother,  A.  J.  Alexander,  visited 
Great  Britain  with  the  view  of  buying 
some  choice  Shqrthorns.  They  selected 
about  eighty-three  head,  of  which  fifteen 
were  bulls.  Among  the  cows  bought  was 
a  daughter  of  Duchess  54th,  by  2d  Duke 
of  Oxford  (9046),  named  Duchess  of 
Athol.  This  heifer  and  her  half-brother, 
the  2d  Duke  of  Athol  (11376),  had  been 
bred  by  Colonel  Towneley,  and  Mr.  Alex- 
ander paid  about  $2,500  for  the  pair. 
This  heifer  traced  back  through  a  line 
of  Duchesses  to  Duchess  1st  by  Comet, 
and  in  her  pedigree  was  the  most  pop- 
ular Colling  and  Bates  blood.  From 
Duchess  of  Athol  came  Duchess  of  Air- 
drie by  2d  Duke  of  Athol  or  Valiant 
(10989),  the  head  of  this  family  in  Amer- 
ica. Duchess  of  Athol  was  then  bred  to 
the  Duke  of  Gloster  (11382),  from  which 
union  on  Aug.  4,  1854,  came  the  bull  calf 
Duke  of  Airdrie,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch.  Along  in  September,  1855,  Mr. 
Alexander  brought  'to  America  the  cow 
Duchess  of  Athol  and  her  two  calves, 
Duchess  of  Airdrie  and  Duke  of  Airdrie. 
In  this  connection  it  is  to  be  noted  that 
other  cattle  were  imported  at  the  same 
time.  The  Alexander  importations  of 
1853  and  1855  may  be  regarded  as  among 
the  most  important  drafts  of  Shorthorns 
ever  brought  to  America. 

Duke  of  Airdrie,  on  his  arrival  at 
Woodburn,  went  into  active  service  in 
the  herd  there.  Later  in  March,  1857,  he 
was  hired  by  George  M.  Bedford  of 
Bourbon  county,  Kentucky,  to  serve  fifty 
cows  in  his  herd,  for  which  he  was  to 

—62— 


pay  $1,250.  From  the  Bedford  hiring  re- 
sulted nearly  fifty  calves.  While  in  Mr. 
Bedford's  care  Duke  of  Airdrie  was  also 
bred  to  several  cows  owned  by  Abram 
Renick  and  Major  Jere  Duncan. 

This  bull  was  red  and  white  in  color, 
and,  while  a  superior  individual,  was  not 
a  distinctly  show  animal.  His  sire,  the 
Duke  of  Gloster,  is  referred  to  as  a 
closer  built,  better  type  of  bull.  A.  B. 
Allen,  who  was  very  familiar  with  Short- 
horns in  England  and  this  country,  re- 
garded the  Duke  of  Gloster  as  the  most 
perfect  type  he  had  ever  seen  imported, 
he  being  brought  to  New  York  by  Mor- 
ris &  Becar.  Duke  of  Airdrie  inherited 
from  his  sire  very  superior  Quality  of 
skin  and  hair,  as  well  as  his  prominent 
hips  and  long,  level,  high-class  rumps. 
His  flanks  were  deep  and  his  back  very 
level  and  straight.  His  head  was  'S'hort 
and  with  strong  horns  and  was  carried 
with  much  dignity  on  a  short  neck  that 
had  a  prominent  crest.  His  shoulders 
were  quite  smooth  and  better  than  his 
sire's.  He  stood  somewhat  higher  from 
the  ground  than  most  breeders  of  to-day 
desire,  but  his  carriage  was  of  a  very 
imposing  nature.  It  is  said  that  his  off- 
spring were  remarkable  for  their  deep 
color,  straight  backs,  deep  flanks  and 
fine  carriage.  Some  six  months  before 
the  bull  died  John  R.  Page,  the  well- 
known  live  stock  artist,  painted  a  por- 
trait of  him,  from  which  a  copy  was 
reproduced  in  Sanders'  "History  of 
Shorthorn  Cattle." 

This  Duke  of  Airdrie  became  the  an- 
cestor of  many  animals  of  high  merit, 
and  without  doubt  he  may  be  regarded 
as  the  most  important  sire  living  in 
America  during  the  middle  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  In  the  American  herd- 
book  he  is  referred  to  as  "the  original 
progenitor  of  the  American  Dukes  of 
Airdrie,  called  in  Kentucky  'The  Old 
Duke.'  " 

This  bull  is  regarded  as  the  most  im- 
portant factor  in  bringing  fame  to 
Messrs.  Alexander,  Bedford  and  Renick. 
Bred  to  Nannie  Williams,  a  great  show 
cow  owned  by  Jere  Duncan,  he  produced 
Duke  of  Airdrie  2743,  an  animal  that 
proved  not  only  a  great  show  bull,  but 
also  a  great  breeder.  He  was  a  cham- 
pion at  local  fairs  in  Kentucky,  as  well 
as  the  state  fairs  of  Kentucky  and 
Ohio.  In  1866,  at  8  years  of  age,  he  won 
first  prize  as  best  aged  bull  at  the  Bour- 
bon county  fair.  A  son  of  his,  Duncan's 

— 63-*- 


Airdrie  5615,  was  a  celebrated  prize  win- 
ner at  Kentucky  and  Ohio  shows  from 
1865  to  1873,  and  was  a  famous  breeder 
of  heifers.  The  Louan  family,  which 
developed  in  Mr.  Duncan's  hands,  ob- 
tained great  fame  by  the  use  of  this 
Airdrie  blood.  The  celebrated  Louan 
show  cow,  Louddn  Duchess  2d,  result- 
ed from  William  Warfield  breeding  Duke 
of  Airdrie  2743  to  the  cow  Miss  Wiley 
4th. 

Another  and  perhaps  the  most  famous 
son  of  Duke  of  Airdrie  (12730)  was  pro- 
duced by  mating  him  to  the  Rose  of 
Sharon  cow  Duchess,  by  Buena  Vista  299, 
the  property  of  Abram  Renick.  From 
this  union  came  Airdrie  2478.  Consider- 
able has  been  written  in  the  earlier  live 
stock  periodicals  about  this  bull,  which 
Sanders  states  "may  safely  be  listed  as 
one  of  America's  greatest  progenitors  of 
valuable  Shorthorns."  He  was  not  a 
large  bull,  weighing  1900  to  2000  pounds 
in  medium  flesh,  was  red,  with  little 
white,  and  was  not  an  outstanding  show 
bull.  He  proved  to  be  a  great  breeder 
of  bulls.  Among  his  best  sons  were 
Sweepstakes  6230,  Joe  Johnson  10294,  Air- 
drie 3d,  13320,  Dick  Taylor  5508  and  Air- 
drie Duke  5306.  All  of  these  were  promi- 
nent as  show  animals  in  some  of  the 
best  herds  in  the  Mississippi  valley,  and 
won  many  prizes.  Not  only  that,  but 
they  also  transmitted  the  prepotent 
breeding  quality  of  the  old  Duke.  Air- 
drie 2478  was  almost  .the  making  of 
Abram  Renick's  herd,  and  his  fame  as 
a  breeder  not  only  attracted  attention  in 
England,  but  brought  Englishmen  to 
Kentucky  to  see  the  bull  and  the  herd  of 
which  he  was  so  large  a  part.  The  min- 
gling of  the  Duchess  and  Rose  of  Sharon 
blood  in  Mr.  Renick's  herd  proved  a  very 
fortunate  nick.  Dick  Taylor,  descended 
from  Young  Phyllis,  was  a  noted  sire,  as 
well  as  show  bull.  Mated  with  Young 
Mary  blood  highly  satisfactory  returns 
resulted.  Airdrie  Duke  5306,  another  son 
of  Airdrie  2478,  was  bred  by  Abram  Van- 
meter  and  mated  to  Young  Mary.  He 
also  produced  very  valuable  heifers,  of 
which  Red  Rose  8th,  Red  Rose  llth, 
Phoebe  Taylor  and  Miss  Washington  2d 
are  distinguished  examples.  Through 
them  in  particular  the  fame  of  the  Ren- 
ick Airdrie  blood  was  taken  to  Eng- 
land. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to 
the  cow  Miss  Wiley  4th,  by  2d  Duke  of 

—64— 


Athol,  bred  at  Woodburn.  She  was  pur- 
chased by  William  Warfield  for  a  neigh- 
bor of  his  named  F.  K.  Hunt.  She  was 
bid  off  at  $470,  and  from  her  descends 
the  L'oudon  Duchess  tribe.  Mr.  Warfield 
supervised  her  breeding,  and  she  was 
bred  to  Duke  of  Airdrie  (12730)  at  Wood- 
burn  and  dropped  calves  by  him  in  1860, 
1861,  1862,  1863  and  1864,  the  last  being  a 
heifer,  Loudon  Duchess.  In  1865,  with 
Duncan's  Duke  of  Airdrie  2743  to  cover, 
the  old  Duke  being  dead,  she  dropped 
Loudon  Duchess  2d.  These  two  heifers 
proved  phenomenal  show  and  breeding 
cows.  The  latter  won  fifty-six  prizes  at 
various  state  and  local  fairs  in  Kentucky 
and  Ohio,  and  proved  herself  one  of  the 
great  breeding  and  show  cows  of  Ameri- 
can Shorthorn  history. 

The  influence  of  Duke  of  Airdrie,  from 
which  these  various  descendants  come,  is 
most  widespread.  He  and  his  get  were 
very  extensively  used  on  different  tribes 
and  families,  and  the  name  Airdrie  met 
with  deserved  popularity.  It  is  hardly 
possible  to  study  Shorthorn  pedigree  as 
relating  to  American  bred  animals  with- 
out realizing  that  the  breeders  of  this 
country,  and  especially  of  Kentucky,  are 
much  indebted  to  Mr.  Alexander  for  the 
great  improvement  brought  about 
through  the  importation  of  this  famous 
bull. 


—65— 


IOTH  DUCHESS  OF  GENEVA 


One  of  the  beautiful  bodies  of  water 
in  western  New  York  is  Seneca  lake. 
At  its  foot  lies  Geneva,  an  old  town  with 
many  attractive  homes  along  the  bluff 
overlooking  the  lake.  About  two  miles 
to  the  west,  on  a  fair  eminence,  is 
White  Spring-  farm.  Here  almost  a  half 
century  ago  J.  O.  Sheldon  began  the 
development  of  a  Shorthorn  herd  by 
importing  a  number  of  cattle  of  Bates 
blood.  Later  he  acquired  from  Samuel 
Thome  imp.  Duke  of  Gloster  (11382), 
Duchess  64th  and  Duchess  66th  and  1st 
Duchess  of  Thorndale,  daughter  of 
Duchess  64th,  and  Duchess  71st,  daugh- 
ter of  Duchess  66th.  Eventually  Mr. 
Sheldon  possessed  a  herd  of  Shorthorns 
pre-eminently  of  Bates  breeding,  for  in 
1866  he  bought  Mr.  Thome's  entire  herd, 
at  that  time  the  leading  Duchess  herd  in 
America.  In  1866  Sheldon  exported  to 
England  two  Duchess  bulls  and  a  heifer 
and  six  Oxford  heifers.  This  exporta- 
tion was  sold  at  auction  and  caused 
much  talk  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic. 
Sheldon  developed  a  great  herd,  and 
finally  in  1869  sold  half  of  it  to  Walcott 
and  Campbell  of  New  York  Mills,  Oneida 
county,  N.  Y.,  the  following  year  selling 
them  all  his  remaining  animals.  Thus 
the  New  York  Mills  herd,  of  which 
Richard  Gibson  was  manager,  came  into 
possession  of  the  greatest  aggregation  of 
Bates  blood  cattle  in  America. 

In  this  herd  transferred  to  Wolcott 
and  Campbell  was  the  roan  cow  10th 
Duchess  of  Geneva.  She  was  calved  on 
May  15,  1867,  and  was  sired  by  2d  Duke 
of  Geneva  (23752)  5562  and  out  of  5th 
Duchess  of  Geneva  by  Grand  Duke  of 
Oxford.  Her  sire  was  a  bull  of  consid- 
erable merit  that  died  comparatively 
young.  However,  he  sired  a  number  of 
animals  that  became  celebrated  in  the 
show  and  sale  ring.  The  dam  of  10th 
Duchess  of  Geneva  was  a  great  grand- 
daughter of  Duchess  66th,  while  on  the 
sire's  side  Duchess  66th  also  occurred 
in  the  line  of  female  descent  one  gen- 
eration further  back.  Tenth  Duchess  of 
Geneva  was  essentially  a  commingling 
of  Oxford  and  Duchess  blood  on  both 
sides,  much  of  which  for  three  genera- 
tions back  had  been  bred  by  Sheldon, 

—66— 


although  her  grandsire  on  the  dam's 
side,  Grand  Duke  of  Oxford  (16184),  was 
bred  by  Captain  Gunter  in  England. 
The  pedigree  of  this  cow  was  strikingly 
Bates,  going  back  into  the  most  famous 
Duchess  and  Oxford  blood. 

Tenth  Duchess  of  Geneva  was  a  very 
beautiful  cow  and  met  largely  the  favor 
of  the  critics.  In  1873  Wolcott  and  Camp- 
bell decided  to  hold  a  closing-out  sale, 
which  was  held  on  Sept.  10  of  that  year. 
This  was  the  most  remarkable  cattle 
sale  of  history,  and  the  prices  paid  there 
have  never  been  equaled  to  this  day.  A 
large  gathering  came  together,  with 
prominent  buyers  from  England  and 
various  parts  of  the  United  States.  The 
highest  price  of  the  sale  was  for  the  8th 
Duchess  of  Geneva,  bid  off  at  $40,600. 
This  cow,  however,  later  gave  birth  to 
a  dead  calf  and  herself  died  soon  after- 
ward. The  10th  Duchess  of  Geneva  was 
also  in  this  same  sale,  and  the  following 
account  of  her  selling,  as  written  by 
George  W.  Rust  and  published  in  San- 
der's History  of  Shorthorn  Cattle,  merits 
a  place  here: 

"Colonel  Morris  of  New  York  led  with 
$5,000,  which  Colonel  King  of  Minnesota 
raised  to  $10,000.  Mr.  Kello  advanced 
the  figure  to  $15,000  for  Mr.  Davies,  and 
Mr.  Berwick  for  Earl  Bective  made  it 
$20,000,  when  it  was  very  evident  there 
was  to  be  such  a  trial  of  nerve  as  had 
not  before  been  witnessed.  One  of  the 
Kentuckians  bid  $25,000,  and  Colcnel 
King  added  another  $1,000,  which  Mr. 
Berwick  lost  no  time  in  advancing  to 
$30,000.  This  bid  Mr.  Brodhead  advanced 
$100,  when  Mr.  Berwick  declared,  'I  am 
done,'  and  started  to  leave  the  ring.  His 
English  friends,  however,  rallied  him 
and  he  exclaimed  in  an  excited  manner, 
'Thirty  thousand  dollars!  How  much  is 
that  in  sterling?'  One  of  them  pushed 
him  again  to  the  front,  exclaiming,  'Buy 
her  and  count  it  afterward!'  but  not 
until  Mr.  Kello  had  taken  advantage  of 
his  excitement  to  raise  the  price  to  $30,- 
500.  Mr.  Berwick  returned  with  $31,000, 
Mr.  Kello  with  $100,  which  Mr.  Berwick 
raised  to  $500,  with  no  other  effect  than 
to  bring  from  his  opponent  a  bid  of 
$32,000.  Mr.  Berwick  seemed  to  be  net- 
tled by  Mr.  Kello's  undisturbed  manner 
and  added  another  $1,000,  making  $33.- 
000;  and  Mr.  Kello,  not  at  all  dashed, 
added  $500  more  without  delay,  and  then 
Mr.  Berwick  advanced  it  to  $34,000;  'and 
$500,'  was  Mr.  Kello's  response.  Mr.  Ber- 

—67— 


wick  put  on  enough  to  make  $35,000  and 
Mr.  Kello's  flag  and  the  auctioneer's 
hammer  came  down.  The  Americans, 
who  had  not  made  a  bid  after  the  $26,000 
and  were  aware  that  Mr.  Kello  had  not 
been  permitted  to  become  a  member  of 
the  English  party,  watched  this  contest 
between  the  two  English  interests  with 
no  little  concern,  and  his  opponents, 
although  evidently  feeling  they  had  paid 
dearly  for  the  victory,  were  in  high  glee 
that  they  had  won  it  Of  course  the 
price,  $35,000,  would  never  be  equaled 
again,  and  the  audience  gave  itself  up 
once  more  to  various  expressions  of 
astonishment."  The  sale  of  8th  Duchess 
of  Geneva,  however,  already  referred  to, 
came  later. 

The  price  paid  for  10th  Duchess  of 
Geneva,  however,  stands  as  the  highest 
one  ever  paid  for  an  animal  of  the  cattle 
class,  where  future  usefulness  is  con- 
cerned. This  cow  was  purchased  by  Mr. 
Berwick  for  Earl  Bective  of  Underley, 
England,  and  upon  her  exportation  to  the 
other  side  of  the  water  that  same  fall 
she  met  with  a  most  favorable  recep- 
tion. She  remained  in  the  herd  in  active 
service  until  her  death  from  suffocation 
from  the  pressure  of  an  overloaded  stom- 
ach on  Jan.  30,  1877.  It  is  also  said  her 
lungs  were  not  in  healthy  condition  at 
the  time  of  her  death. 

When  taken  to  England  in  1873  10th 
Duchess  of  Geneva  was  in  calf  to  2d 
Duke  of  Oneida  (33702)  9926,  and  in  Janu- 
ary, 1874,  she  dropped  a  bull  calf,  Duke 
of  Underley  (33745),  that  proved  a  rare 
breeder  and  became  very  famous.  The 
next  year,  in  January,  1875,  she  had  a 
heifer  calf,  named  Duchess  of  Underley, 
by  2d  Duke  of  Tregunder  (26022),  and 
twelve  months  later,  by  the  same  bull, 
she  dropped  another  heifer,  which  was 
named  Duchess  of  Lancaster.  At  the 
time  of  her  death  she  was  safe  in  calf  to 
Earl  Dunmore's  Lord  of  the  Isles  (34630). 

The  oldest  daughter  of  this  cow  was 
8th  Duchess  of  Oneida,  and  she  was  bred 
by  J.  O.  Sheldon,  and  was  by  4th  Duke 
of  Geneva.  She  sold  in  the  same  sale 
with  her  mother  at  $15,300,  going  to  Eng- 
land, into  the  same  herd.  In  1878  Earl 
Bective  sold  a  daughter  of  this  heifer  at 
$15,000. 

In  a  note  in  the  Agricultural  Gazette 
(England),  referring  to  the  death  of  this 
cow,  the  writer  says:  "Who  that  has 
seen  her  ever  went  away  without  de- 

—68— 


claring;  her  the  best  cow  he  had  ever 
looked  upon?"  No  doubt,  however,  other 
cows  have  attained  greater  fame  as 
breeders,  but  no  individual  has  yet  lived 
which  combined  so  interesting  a  pedigree, 
superior  individual  merit,  breeding  worth 
and  market  value  as  10th  Duchess  of 
Geneva.  The  added  fact  that  she  was 
American  bred  and  exported  to  England 
possesses  a  special  interest  to  the  stu- 
dent, for  but  few  American-bred  Short- 
horns have  found  their  way  into  herds 
the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic.  A  full 
page  engraving  of  this  cow,  at  5  years 
old,  drawn  by  J.  R.  Page,  ornaments 
volume  IX.,  part  2,  and  volume 
XII.,  part  2,  of  the  American  Shorthorn 
Herd  Book. 


—  69— 


XIX 


The  bull  Abbotsford  2702  (3411)  was  not 
the  most  distinguished  specimen  of  the 
breed,  yet  his  influence  as  a  breeder  and 
his  family  relationship  were  such  as  to 
make  his  life  of  very  considerable  inter- 
est to  many  Aberdeen-Angus  breeders. 
He  was  bred  by  Mossom  Boyd,  Bobcay- 
geon,  Canada,  and  was  dropped  March  2, 
1884.  His  sire  was  the  bull* Ermine  Bear- 
er 1794  (2082),  by  Young  Viscount,  and 
his  dam  was  Coquette  10th  2703  (4668), 
Ermine  Bearer's  influence  has  been  a  re- 
markable one,  particularly  in  his  sons. 
A  most  interesting  feature  of  the  use  of 
Ermine  Bearer  is  brought  out  in  the  fact 
that,  mated  with  Coquette  10th,  he  be- 
came sire  of  the  following  bulls,  they 
thus  all  being  full  brothers  in  blood: 
Abbotsford  2702. 
Abavus  3625. 
Abbatoir  7402. 
Abactor  7426. 

These  full  brothers  proved  a  remarka- 
ble lot  in  their  signal  importance  in  im- 
proving the  breed.  Their  names  are  fa- 
miliar in  Angus  pedigrees  during  the  past 
twenty  years.  It  seemed  to  be  a  most 
fortunate  mating,  this  union  of  the  sire 
and  dam  of  Abbotsford. 

Among  the  famous  herds  of  Aberdeen- 
Angus  cattle  in  America  is  that  of 
"Heatherton,"  at  Naperville,  111.,  the 
property  of  Judge  J.  S.  Goodwin.  This 
herd  had  its  inception  in  1883  at  Beloit, 
Kan.,  in  a  partnership  of  Judge  Goodwin 
with  his  brother,  W.  R.,  Jr.  After  five 
years  it  was  removed  from  Kansas  to 
Illinois,  where  it  stayed  two  years.  From 
then  on  until  1902  it  was  in  a  partnership 
on  shares  between  Judge  Goodwin  and 
M:  A.  Judy.  During  all  these  years  this 
herd  was  intimately  identified  with  the 
most  progressive  history  of  the  breed. 
On  different  occasions  three  of  the  choic- 
est Scotch  bulls,  champions  of  the  first 
class  at  tlfe  Highland  and  Agricultural 
society  shows,  were  brought  to  America 
to  be  used  on  the  Heatherton  herd.  This 
stands  alone  as  a  record  in  itself.  These 
were  Judge  473,  "the  World  Beater," 
purchased  in  1884;  Justice  854,  "the  In- 
comparable," imported  in  1886,  and  Erica 
Chieftain  15498.  Strangely  and  unfortu- 

—70— 


nately  each  of  these  three  great  bulls 
lived  but  a  short  time  in  the  Heatherton 
herd,  and  left  but  few  offspring. 

The  death  of  Justice  required  that 
Heatherton  secure  another  bull  suited  to 
its  needs,  and  Judge  Goodwin  entered 
into  negotiations  with  Mr.  Boyd  with 
the  hope  of  securing  Ermine  Bearer.  As 
this  was  impossible,  it  was  thought  wise 
to  secure  his  best  son,  if  available.  Mr. 
Boyd  wrote  Judge  Goodwin  that  he 
might  have  the  choice  of  any  of  Ermine 
Bearer's  sons  at  a  price  to  be  named  by 
the  purchaser.  The  telegraphed  reply 
was:  "We  have  twenty-nine  bulls  in  our 
own  barn  now.  Do  not  want  a  bull- 
want  a  stock  getter.  Will  take  any  Er- 
mine Bearer  son  at  your  own  price  if 
guaranteed  breeder  of  extra  stock,  Ab- 
botsford  preferred."  As  a  result  of  this 
correspondence  this  bull  was  secured.  In 
a  most  interesting  sketch  of  the  Heath- 
erton herd  recently  published  Judge 
Goodwin  says:  "He  was  a  thrice  Trojan- 
Erica  topped  Ballindalloch  Coquette  bull, 
and  developed  into  a  magnificent  indi- 
vidual, thick  fleshed,  a  good  handler  and 
an  easy  keeper.  But  it  was  as  the  sire 
of  a  remarkable  lot  of  animals  that  his 
fame  chiefly  rests,  although  he  was  prac- 
tically undefeated  in  the  show  ring. 
*  *  *  All  his  calves  carried  such  a 
wealth  of  flesh  and  such  constitutions 
that  to  Abbotsford  must  be  given  the 
credit  of  'making'  the  herd." 

Abbotsford,  like  his  sire,  proved  to  be 
an  unusually  superior  breeder  of  bulls, 
and  his  sons,  Black  Abbot  10423,  Black- 
bird Knight  11547,  Black  Monk  13214,  and 
Black  Magic  14367,  all  obtained  special 
fame  for  merit.  Black  Abbot  proved  also 
to  be  a  great  bull  breeder,  and  Zaire  5th 
13067,  one  of  his  sons,  brought  much  fame 
to  the  Bradfute  herd  in  Ohio,  by  siring 
some  of  their  best  animals,  and  especially 
Lady  of  Meadowbrook  21466,  and  her  sis- 
ter, Bertha  of  Meadowbrook  20275,  both 
prize  winners  of  the  highest  character. 
Other  important  sons  of  his  were  Lil- 
burn  K.  20534,  Duke  of  Marlborough 
22827  and  Black  Victor  24135,  each  of 
which  was  used  at  the  head  of  prom- 
inent herds.  Black  Monk  proved  not 
only  a  great  show  bull,  but  a 
breeder  as  well.  In  1897,  at  the 
Illinois  state  fair,  the  Heatherton  herd 
won  grand  sweepstakes  with  Black 
Monk  at  its  head,  five  of  the  animals  in 
the  herd  also  being  his  progeny.  At 

—71— 


XX 


DALE   66481 


Up  in  north  central  Indiana  is  a  little 
village  by  the  name  of  Bunker  Hill.  In 
the  eyes  of  the  world  at  large  it  has  little 
of  interest.  In  the  minds  of  Hereford 
breeders  it  possesses  special  importance 
from  the  fact  that  here  was  dropped,  on 
Sept.  15,  1895,  on  the  farm  of  Clem 
Graves,  the  calf  Dale  66481,  an  animal 
that  later  was  destined  to  become  known 
as  one  of  the  remarkable  individuals  of 
the  breed. 

Dale  was  sired  by  Columbus  51875,  a 
son  of  Earl  of  Shadeland  41st  33378,  while, 
the  latter  was  by  the  great  Garfield  7015 
(69t5),  the  champion  at  the  Royal  Agri- 
cultural society  show  of  1882.  Lord  Wil- 
ton blood  is  not  lacking  in  the  pediigree 
on  the  sire's  side,  with  also  Horace  and 
Anxiety  relationship  present.  Pet  36054, 
the  dam  of  Columbus,  was  out  of  Jessie 
4th,  a  daughter  of  Anxiety  3d.  Colum- 
bus proved  to  be  a  great  sire,  which  this 
breeding  sufficiently  accounts  for. 

The  dam  of  Dale  was  Rose  Blossom 
39225,  and  she  was  sired  by  Peerless  Wil- 
ton 12774,  also  a  son  of  Garfleld,  and  the 
Lord  Wilton  cow  Peerless  10902.  Peer- 
less Wilton  has  sired  some  notable  cows, 
among  which  Jessamine  will  always  be 
one  of  the  great  show  cows  of  the  breed. 
Peerless  Wilton  and  his  daughter  Jessa- 
mine were  both  bred  by  Thomas  Clark  of 
Beecher,  111.,  who  was  also  the  breeder 
of  Pet  36054. 

A  thoughtful  study  of  the  ancestry  of 
Dale  shows  him  to  have  been  bred  in 
the  purple,  with  numerous  distinguished 
breeding  and  show  animals  in  both 
branches  of  the  family.  In  attaining  em- 
inence in  the  show  ring  and  as  a  sire,  he 
but  came  into  his  rightful  possession  as 
a  result  of  that  most  potent  law  of  in- 
heritance, that  "like  produces  like  " 

The  career  of  Dale  in  the  show  ring 
is  one  of  the  most  remarkable"  experi- 
ences in  American  Hereford  history,  and 
it  is  safe  to  say  that  it  is  without  a 
parallel.  In  1896  he  was  first  in  his  class 
at  the  Ohio  and  Michigan  state  fairs, 
and  also  at  county  fairs  held  at  Marion, 
Terre  Haute  and  Portland,  Ind.,  and  at 
Celina,  Ohio.  In  1897  Dale  really  began 
to  attract  serious  attention.  This  sea- 

—74— 


son  he  was  first  prize  bull  in  his  class 
and  champion  Hereford  bull  at  the  state 
fairs  of  New  York,  Ohio,  Indiana  and 
Michigan.  Then  people  began  to  talk 
and  Dale's  advent  to  a  wider  circuit  was 
anticipated  with  keen  interest.  In  1898 
he  traversed  a  wide  territory.  At  the 
New  York  state  fair  he  was  first  in 
herd  and  champion  Hereford  bull;  at  the 
Indiana  state  fair  first  in  class,  first  in 
herd,  junior  champion,  and  champion  in 
herd  over  all  breeds;  at  the  Illinois  state 
fair  first  in  3-year-old  class,  senior  cham- 
pion and  first  in  herd.  He  concluded  the 
season's  show  at  the  Trans-Mississippi 
exposition  at  Omaha  by  winning  first  in 
class,  first  in  herd  and  being  made  the 
champion  Hereford  bull  of  the  show.  In 
1899  Dale  renewed  his  winnings  by  being 
made  champion  at  the  New  York  state 
fair,  and  won  first  in  the  aged  bull  class 
at  the  Indiana  state  fair,  though  later  he 
lowered  his  colors,  when  his  son,  Perfec- 
tion, was  made  champion  over  him.  At 
the  Illinois  state  fair  he  was  the  aged 
champion  Hereford  bull,  and  was  also 
first  in  class,  and  won  second  prize  in  the 
class  for  get  of  sire.  Later  on  at  the 
National  Hereford  show  at  Kansas  City 
he  was  first  in  class  in  the  stiffest  com- 
petition, and  also  senior  champion,  while 
his  son  Perfection  was  placed  first  as 
senior  bull  calf,  and  a  daughter,  Theressa, 
was  first  as  senior  heifer  calf.  At  this 
show  Dale  also  won  the  $400  K.  B.  Ar- 
mour silver  cup  as  "the  best  bull  of  any 
age";  he  was  first  in  herd,  first  in  the 
Breeder's  Gazette  special  herd,  first  with 
cow  and  offspring,  first  in  best  pair  of 
any  age,  and  third  for  four'  of  his  get. 
Dale  concluded  his  show  yard  career  in 
1900,  when  he  was  made  first  prize  aged 
Hereford  bull  at  the  Indiana  and  Min- 
nesota state  fairs,  though  at  the  Na- 
tional Hereford  show  he  was  placed 
third.  Following  this,  at  the  Interna- 
tional Live  Stock  Exposition,  he  was 
placed  second  in  the  aged  bull  class,  in 
competition  with  seven  other  great  bulls, 
including  Dandy  Rex,  placed  first;  Im- 
prover, Beau  Donald,  Christopher  and 
Mark  Hanna.  Later,  however,  he  was 
made  senior  champion,  and  thus  fittingly 
closed  his  great  career  by  winning  the 
highest  honors  of  the  most  important 
show  of  the  year. 

Though  bred  by  Mr.  Graves,  whose 
wife  had  the  honor  of  naming  him,  he 
was  sold  as  a  yearling  to  F.  A.  Nave 
of  Attica,  Ind.,  for  $1,100.  In  his  hands 

—75  - 


Dale  became  famous  through  the  exhi- 
bitions of  1898  and  1899.  On  April  17  and 
18,  1900,  Mr.  Nave  had  a  dispersion  sale 
of  his  entire  Fairview  herd  at  the  Union 
Stock  Yards  at  Chicago,  on  which  occa- 
sion Clem  Graves  bought  Dale  for  $7,500, 
the  highest  price  up  to  that  time  paid 
for  a  bull  of  this  breed  in  America. 
After  using  him  in  his  herd  for  some 
months  Mr.  Graves  sold  Dale  to  S.  H. 
Godman  of  Wabash,  Ind.,  for  $8,COO,  who 
in  turn  sold  him  again  in  a  very  short 
time,  on  Jan.  8,  1901,  to  J.  C.  Adams  of 
Moweaqua,  111.,  for  $10,000,  then  the  rec- 
ord price  for  a  bull  of  this  breed.  Dale 
was  used  in  Mr.  Adams'  herd  at  Wood- 
land farm  until  late  in  1903,  when 
through  disease  said  to  have  begun  with 
"indigestion"  he  died  on  Oct.  18. 

No  Hereford  bull  in  American  history 
has  been  the  subject  of  more  sensational 
showing  than  was  Dale.  He  was  not 
a  large  bull,  and  in  his  best  show-ring 
form  weighed  about  2200  pounds.  His 
character  as  the  very  highest  type  of  a 
meat-producing  animal  has  never  been 
questioned.  His  breadth  of  back,  depth 
and  spring  of  rib,  fullness  and  depth 
of  chest,  development  of  hindquarter  and 
length  of  leg,  covering  of  flesh  and  qual- 
ity were  superb.  His  critics  objected  to 
his  head  and  neck  as  lacking  in  a  meas- 
ure in  breed  character  and  as  represent- 
ing- a  feeder  rather  than  a  breeder. 
During  the  rounds  of  the  great  shows 
much  was  published  among  the  reviews 
regarding  the  mighty  Dale  and  his  strong 
and  weak  points.  No  journal  discussed 
him  more  critically  than  the  Breeder's 
Gazette,  and  the  writer  quotes  the  fol- 
lowing as  representing  very  fairly  public 
sentiment  among  competent  judges. 

In  its  report  on  the  Illinois  state  fair 
show  in  1898,  says  the  Gazette  reporter: 
"Dale  lacks  the  lordly  front  and  car- 
riage of  Sir  Bredwell,  but  such  perfec- 
tion of  body,  such  richness  of  flesh,  such 
deep,  even  padding  of  carcass  from  ears 
to  hocks  is  seldom  seen.  As  a  feeder's 
and  butcher's  type  he  is  one  of  the  great- 
est show  bulls  of  any  breed  we  have  ever 
had  in  our  western  show  yards.  Criti- 
cism of  his  carcass  is  practically  repelled. 
He  is  filled,  loaded,  furnished,  packe:! 
with  prime  beef  at  every  point;  thick 
meated  without  being  rough,  rich  but 
not  gaudy.  Such  wealth  of  thick  cut- 
ting ribs  and  loins,  such  hip  covering 
such  smoothness  and  all  around  sym- 
metry of  body,  such  balance  of  parts 
fore  and  aft,  above  and  below,  might 
—76— 


be  looked  for  in  vain  at  all  the  barns." 
At  the  end  of  the  1899  season  this  same 
journal,  referring  at  length  to  Dale, 
says:  "The  longer  the  ribbons  hold  out 
the  heavier  grows  his  burden  of  first 
and  championship  awards.  His  victory 
in  this  class  was  but  the  beginning  of 
triumph  unique  and  fairly  unparalleled. 
Never  were  honors  heaped  in  such 
abundant  measure  with  so  little  prote-t 
from  the  opposition.  One  by  one  his 
critics  were  silenced.  Dale  left  the  show 
the  Dewey  of  the  Hereford  campaign  of 
1899." 

Dale  died  a  comparatively  young  bull, 
and  consequently  we  cannot  measure  his 
deepest  influence  on  the  breed.  His  son 
Perfection  92891,  however,  now  owned  by 
G.  H.  Hoxie  of  Thornton,  111.,  has  won 
the  highest  championship  honors  in  the 
American  show  ring.  Bred  by  Mr.  Nave, 
he  was  sold  in  his  dispersion  sale  to 
Thomas  Clark  of  Beecher,  111.,  for  $1  300, 
in  whose  herd  he  did  valuable  service. 
On  the  dispersal  of  Mr.  Clark's  herd,  on 
Jan.  7,  1902,  Mr.  Hoxie  purchased  Per- 
fection at  auction  for  $9,000.  Another 
son  of  Dale,  known  as  Perfection  Jd,  Is 
now  in  service  in  the  Hoxie  herd.  He  is 
an  individual  of  much  merit,  presenting 
the  essentials  of  his  sire  in  conforma- 
tion, and  much  is  anticipated  from  his 
herd  service.  At  Mr.  Nave's  dispersion 
sale  in  1900  there  were  sold  ninety-six 
head  for  a  total  of  $64,415.  Of  the  ani- 
mals sold  the  following  were  sons  and 
daughters  of  Dale,  with  the  prices  af- 
fixed: Perfection,  $1,300;  Perfection  2d, 
$950;  Lelax,  $400;  Theressa,  $3,000;  Sister 
Theressa,  $1,000;  Beatrice,  $750;  Lady 
Wilton,  $420,  and  Favorite  Flower,  $250. 

Dale  has  passed  over  the  great  divide 
and  it  will  be  many  days  before  the 
American  show  ring  again  sees  his  equal 
as  an  individual.  As  the  sire  of  Perfec- 
tion alone  he  is  entitled  to  lasting  hon- 
ors, and  no  doubt  in  the  future  will  he 
become  more  and  more  firmly  estab- 
lished in  the  esteem  of  the  Hereford 
fraternity  as  a  notable  breeding  as  well 
as  show  bull. 


—77— 


XXI 


6AY  MONARCH  9241 


Among  the  most  prominent  breeders 
of  Shorthorn  cattle  in  America  is  the 
firm  of  J.  G.  Robbins  &  Sons  of  Indiana. 
For  many  years  and  including  three 
generations  has  this  family  lent  its 
great  influence  in  promoting  Shorthorn 
interests.  In  the  fall  of  1887  Luther 
Adams  of  Storm  Lake,  Iowa,  made  a 
choice  importation  of  Shorthorns  from 
Scotland,  and  on  May  16,  1888,  a  draft 
from  this  importation  was  sold  at  auc- 
tion in  Dexter  Park  at  Chicago.  In  this 
consignment  was  the  roan  bull  Gay 
Monarch  92411.  About  this  time  the 
Robbins  family  was  searching  for  a  suit- 
able bull  to  head  their  herd.  Becoming 
favorably  impressed  with  Scotch  blood 
as  shown  in  prominent  India"na  herds 
it  was  considered  desirable  to  visit  Dex- 
ter Park  in  advance  of  the  sale  and 
search  for  what  was  wanted.  Two  young 
bulls  in  the  collection  met  with  favor, 
Lord  Lieutenant,  a  red  and  white  Secret, 
and  Gay  Monarch,  the  roan.  The  latter 
being  more  stocky  and  thicker  fleshed, 
finally  found  most  favor  and  was  bid  off 
at  the  sale  to  Robbins  &  Sons  at  $375. 

Gay  Monarch  92411  was  bred  by  W. 
S.  Marr  of  Upper  Mill,  Tarves,  Scotland, 
and  was  calved  Jan.  26,  1887.  He  was 
sired  by  William  of  Orange  95736  (50691) 
and  had  for  dam  Alexandrina  17th  by 
Athabasca  (47359).  The  sire  of  Gay  Mon- 
arch was  one  of  the  great  bulls  of  Scot- 
land, A.  H.  Sanders  pronouncing  him  the 
best  individual  seen  by  him  in  1892  when 
visiting  Great  Britain.  He  was  bred  by 
Amos  Cruickshank  at  Sittyton,  and  later 
found  extensive  use  in  the  Marr  herd. 
He  was  a  massive,  thick-fleshed,  deep- 
bodied  bull  of  very  superior  quality,  be- 
longing to  the  Orange  Blossom  tribe. 
Athabasca,  the  sire  of  Gay  Monarch's 
dam,  was  a  half-brother  of  the  cele- 
brated Field  Marshall,  and  was  himself 
sire  of  Sign  of  Riches,  the  first-prize 
Highland  and  Agricultural  society  bull 
at  Glasgow  in  1897,  later  sold  to  go  to 
South  America  at  a  long  price.  On  his 
dam's  side  Gay  Monarch  descends  from 
Alexandrina  by  Alaric  (21155)  through 
six  generations  of  that  name — viz.,  4th, 
oth,  9th,  14th' and  17th,  besides  the  origi- 
nal dam. 

—78— 


In  1900,  referring  to  their  early  career 
with  this  bull  (Breeder's  Gazette,  Aug. 
1,  1900),  the  Messrs.  Robbins  wrote: 

"When  Gay  Monarch  arrived  at  our 
farm  he  was  severely  criticised  for  being 
heavy  in  the  horn,  crooked  in  the  hind 
legs  and  drooping  in  the  rump.  Many 
other  defects  were  found  by  those  self- 
constituted  critics  who  came  to  see  him, 
but  we  took  him  to  our  county  fair 
(Decatur  county,  Indiana)  and  there  he 
had  to  take  second  place,  being  beaten 
by  Prize  Cup,  a  red  Young  Mary  bull 
bred  by  Colonel  Moberly,  which  could 
almost  stand  astraddle  of  our  little, 
short-legged  bull.  At  Seymour,  Ind., 
however,  we  fared  better,  having  a  judge 
who  had  respect  for  short  legs,  and  he 
gave  him  his  class  ribbon  and  the  cham- 
pionship, too.  As  a  2-year-old  he  was 
turned  down  in  class  at  Terre  Haute, 
but  by  another  judge  awarded  the  cham- 
pionship, and  the  rest  of  the  season 
(1889)  was  a  winner.  As  a  3-year-old 
he  came  out  a  hard  bull  to  beat,  and 
his  calves  were  with  him,  winning  as 
well  as  he,  and  from  that  time  until 
he  was  retired  from  the  shows  his  his- 
tory is  pretty  well  known,  as  he  was 
only  shown  at  the  best  shows  of  the 
country,  and  his  winnings  are  a  matter 
of  history." 

In  a  sketch  of  Gay  Monarch  it  will  be 
appropriate  to  refer  to  his  more  impor- 
tant show  ring  record.  Perhaps  his  first 
appearance  in  a  really  great  fair  was 
in  1889  as  a  2-year-old  at  the  Indiana 
state  fair,  where  he  met  no  competition 
in  class,  but  was  received  with  much 
favor.  Up  to  this  time  he  had  won  four- 
teen prizes.  He  passed  over  the  promi- 
nent 1890  circuit,  coming  out  again  at 
the  Indiana  show  in  1891,  where  in  the 
aged  bull  class  he  was  placed  second, 
William  Warfield  being  judge.  At  the 
same  show,  however,  he  was  later  made 
sweepstakes  bull  over  all  beef  breeds, 
but  not  by  the  same  judge.  In  1892  he 
was  made  first-prize  aged  bull  at  the 
Ohio  and  Indiana  state  fairs,  showing 
at  the  latter  place  against  Young  Ab- 
botsburn.  This  is  the  only  instance  in 
which  Gay  Monarch  defeated  Young 
Abbotsburn,  and  this  award  was  not  in 
accordance  with  the  evidence.  These 
two  great  bulls  met  on  various  occasions 
in  the  show  ring,  and  the  general  con- 
sensus of  opinion  was  that  the  latter  was 
the  superior  show  animal  of  the  two. 
This  same  season  Gay  Monarch  was  sec- 

—79— 


ond  at  the  Illinois  state  fair,  with  Young 
Abbotsburn  first.  During  1892  he  won 
eleven  first  and  one  second  prizes,  while 
his  get  won  156  prizes  in  all,  there  being 
twenty-one  of  his  progeny  on  exhibi- 
tion in  the  shows.  In  1893  Gay  Mon- 
arch reached  the  maximum  of  his 
show-ring  fame  by  his  record  and  that 
of  his  get  at  the  World's  Columbian  ex- 
position. Here  in  aged  bull  class  he  was 
placed  second  to  Young  Abbotsburn. 
These  two  bulls  were  of  the  same  gen- 
eral type,  but  Gay  Monarch,  with  all  his 
excellence,  could  hardly  equal  his  great 
rival,  lacking  somewhat  in  substance  and 
flesh.  As  a  breeder,  however,  Gay  Mon- 
arch fairly  surpassed  the  Moberly  bull. 
Here  at  this  show  he  won  the  champion- 
ship for  the  best  herd  over  all  beef  breeds, 
a  great  tribute  to  his  high  worth,  the 
herd  consisting  of  himself  and  the  cows 
Gay  Mary,  Nora  Davis,  Lady  Verbena 
and  Nancy  Hanks.  In  Shorthorn  compe- 
tition only,  this  herd  won  third  place, 
however.  In  the  Shorthorn  class  of  the 
best  four  animals  of  either  sex  under  4 
years  old,  the  get  of  one  sire,  the  Rob- 
bins  got  fourth  place  with  Gay  Mary, 
Nora  Davis,  Peerless  and  Nancy  Hanks, 
all  daughters  of  Gay  Monarch.  Gay 
Mary  was  given  the  first  place  in  aged 
cow  class,  and  also  won  sweepstakes  as 
the  best  female  of  any  age  in  Shorthorn 
classes,  and  was  also  sweepstakes  aged 
cow  of  all  breeds.  Nora  Davis  won 
fourth  place  in  the  2-year-old  class,  and 
Nancy  Hanks,  her  own  sister,  won  third 
place  in  the  heifer  calf  class.  Nora  Davis 
and  Nancy  Hanks  were  also  placed 
fourth  in  the  competition  of  "two  ani- 
mals, either  sex,  from  one  cow,"  they 
being  from  the  cow  Nora,  by  Enterprise 
41901. 

Among  the  sons  of  Gay  Monarch  none 
received  so  great  honors  in  the  show 
ring  as  Monitor  109140.  He  was  famous 
as  a  campaigner,  and  won  many  first 
prizes  in  severe  competition,  being  re- 
peatedly champion  at  Indiana  and  Illi- 
nois state  fairs,  and  winning  a  total 
of  about  ICO  prizes  in  various  shows. 

To  Gay  Monarch  is  credited  the  win- 
ning of  twenty-six  first  prizes  in  class, 
twenty-six  sweepstakes,  six  second  prizes 
and  twenty-four  times  heading  the  win- 
ning herd. 

This  bull  was  of  the  typical  low-down, 
deep-bodied,  short-legged,  thick-fleshed 
sort,  with  a  superior  amount  of  quality. 

—80— 


He  was  red  roan  in  color,  with  a  rich, 
mellow  hide,  and  was  smooth,  broad  and 
deep,  and .  in  show  ring  form  weighed 
2600  pounds.  His  disposition  was  superb, 
and  he  seemed  to  transmit  this  quality  to 
his  offspring,  notably  so  to  Monitor. 

Gay  Monarch  laid  the  foundation  of  the 
success  of  the  Robbins'  herd.  Other  great 
bulls  succeeded  him,  as,  for  example,  St. 
Valentine  121014,  and  The  Lad  for  Me 
140618,  but  Gay  Monarch  has  been  consid- 
ered by  many  to  have  been  one  of  the 
greatest  Scotch-bred  bulls  ever  in  service 
in  America.  The  showing  of  his  offspring 
has  really  been  remarkable.  At  one  time 
forty  of  his  sons  and  daughters  were  in 
show  herds  in  the  United  States,  and  his 
get  have  been  widely  distributed  over 
America  from  ocean  to  ocean.  Among  his 
progeny  may  be  mentioned  Gay  Mary, 
Gay  Rose,  Gay  Miss,  Gay  Maggie,  Gay 
Belle,  Gay  Victoria,  Gay  Lady,  Gay  Vio- 
let, Gay  Nellie,  Gay  Elizabeth,  Gay  Ab- 
botsburn,  Gay  Harry,  Gay  Victor,  Gay 
Knight,  Gay  Dewey,  Gay  Monarch  3d, 
Gay  Monarch  4th,  Monitor,  Bright  Mon- 
arch, Nora's  Monarch,  Secret  Victor, 
Lancaster,  Lavender  Monarch,  Straight 
Monarch,  Lucy  Lee,  Rosebud,  Crescent 
Kate,  Verbena  2d,  Lucretia,  Sunflower, 
Sultana,  Red  Lady,  Model,  Touch-Me- 
Not,  Peerless,  Modest  Girl,  Nora  Davis, 
Jenny  Grey,  Lustre,  Nancy  Hanks, 
Model,  Monarch's  Lady  2d  and  Miss 
Ramsden  5th  of  Oakland.  Among  these 
are  many  show  and  breeding  animals  of 
very  great  merit. 

Gay  Monarch  died  on  Aug.  2,  1899,  aged 
12  years,  and  to-day  what  was  once  mor- 
tal of  this  famous  old  bull  lies  under  a 
mound  of  earth,  which  is  fittingly  crowned 
with  a  neatly  inscribed  monument  erect- 
ed to  his  memory  by  his  appreciative 
owners  on  the  farm  so  long  the  scene  of 
his  activity.  Should  the  Robbins  of 
Horace  continue  in  the  future,  as  in  the 
past,  to  carry  the  standard  of  the  red. 
white  and  roans,  this  stone  and  its  as- 
sociations can  but  inspire  them  to  great- 
er efforts,  with  the  reward.,  it  is  to  be 
hoped,  of  even  greater  future  success. 


—81— 


XXII 


CORRECTOR  48976 


The  name  of  Sotham  is  a  prominent 
part  of  American  Hereford  history.  The 
first  Herefords  were  brought  to  America 
by  Henry  Clay  in  1817,  and  in  1839  Wil- 
liam H.  Sotham,  English  by  birth,  Amer- 
ican by  adoption,  began  to  advocate 
this  breed.  For  many  years  Sotham  did 
yeoman  work  for  the  Hereford  breed 
as  importer,  breeder  and  general  pro- 
moter. In  time  his  mantle  very  natur- 
ally fell  to  his  son,  T.  F.  B.  Sotham, 
who  has  ranked  among  our  greatest 
breeders  up  to  the  present  time.  At 
Chillicothe,  Mo.,  on  Weavergrace  farm, 
Mr.  Sotham  during  the  past  ten  years 
has  developed  a  herd  of  Herefords  that 
has  contained  many  animals  of  the  breed 
now  well  known  to  fame. 

Among  the  bulls  owned  at  Weaver- 
grace  was  Corrector  48976.-  He  was 
calved  on  Jan.  9,  1891,  and  died  Dec.  5, 
1902,  almost  12  years  old.  The  influence 
of  this  bull  on  the  Sotham  herd  and 
American  Hereford  interests  was  so  pro- 
found that  it  is  but  fitting  that  some- 
thing of  his  breeding,  career  and  in- 
fluence should  receive  the  attention  of 
the  Hereford  student. 

Corrector  had  for  sire  Harold  21141,  an 
imported  bull  that  in  the  late  '80s  made 
a  creditable  show  ring  record,  and  that 
also  sired  a  number  of  other  males  and 
females  of  merit.  On  his  sire's  side 
Horatius  was  grandsire  and  old  Horace 
great-grandsire,  while  Regulus  was  the 
sire  of  Harold's  dam,  and  he  was  by  Sir 
Roger._  Coral  13526.  the  dam  of  Cor- 
rector, was  a  great  breeding  as  well  as 
show  cow,  she  being  the  dam  of  Frank- 
lin, Conqueror,  Prince,  Royal  Wilton, 
Archibald  A.,  Royal  Grove,  Jr.,  and 
Beaubois.  Her  eight  calves  are  said  to 
represent  a  genuine  value  of  $50,000.  She 
had  De  Cote  (3060)-  for  grandsire  on  both 
sides,  known  as  a  famous  sire  and  show 
bull.  Coral,  like  Harold,  is  descended 
five  generations  from  Sir  Thomas,  a 
royal  winner  and  breeder  of  the  first 
rank. 

Though  shown  to  some  extent,  Cor- 
rector cannot  be  classed  among  the 
great  show  bulls  of  the  breed.  He  first 
appeared  as  a  calf  in  1891,  when  he  won 
second  prize  in  class  at  the  International 

—82— 


fair  and  exposition  at  Detroit,  second 
prize  at  the  Michigan  state  fair  and 
first  prize  at.  the  Ohio  state  fair  at  Co- 
lumbus. This  year  at  St.  Louis  he  was 
in  the  second-prize  lot  of  four  animals 
the  get  of  one  sire.  In  1892  Corrector 
was  the  third-prize  yearling  at  the  De- 
troit International  fair  and  exposition, 
was  first  prize  in  class  at  the  Darke 
county  (Ohio)  fair  at  Greenville,  and  at 
the  state  fairs  of  Ohio  and  Indiana,  and 
second  prize  at  the  St.  Louis  exposition. 
He  also  headed  the  first-prize  young 
herd  at  Columbus  and  Indianapolis,  and 
was  in  the  group  of  four  receiving  sec- 
ond prize  as  get  of  one  sire  at  St.  Louis. 
In  1892  he  was  known  as  a  promising 
yearling.  In  1893  he  was  first  in  the 
2-year-old  Hereford  class  at  the  Iowa 
state  fair,  first  at  the  northern  Missouri 
district  fair  at  Chillicothe  and  champion 
at  the  head  of  the  herd  over  all  breeds 
at  the  same  show,  was  first  prize  at 
Trenton,  Mo.,  second  prize  at  the  St. 
Joseph  exposition  and  was  second  prize 
in  herd  at  the  St.  Louis  f^ir.  Finally,  in 
1894,  he  was  champion  bull,  any  age. 
over  all  breeds  at  the  northern  Missouri 
district  fair  at  Chillicothe. 

The  real  strength  of  the  story  of  Cor- 
rector lies  in  the  character  of  his  off- 
spring. Had  it  not  been  for  these  the 
world  would  never  have  heard  much  of 
this  bull.  This  was  a  great  breeder,  but 
more  especially  of  bulls.  He  was  of 
impressive  carriage,  with  proud  bearing 
and  graceful  crest,  and  a  head  of  much 
character.  His  offspring  are  notable  for 
their  impressive  fronts  and  breed  char- 
acteristics as  shown  in  head  and  horn. 
Corrector  was  strong,  broad  and  well 
sustained  of  back,  as  are  many  of  his 
descendants,  with  heavy  fleshing  quali- 
ties and  a  superior  covering  of  hair. 
Prominent  among  his  sons  may  be  men- 
tioned Cadillac,  Checkmate,  Chillicothe, 
Chorister,  Emperor,  Exemplar,  Goodwin. 
Grandee,  Harold,  Prince  Laurel,  Photo- 
graph, Protection,  Sir  Bredwell,  Sir 
Comewell  and  Thickset.  Of  his  daugh- 
ters Benefice,  Benlta,  Choke  Cherry. 
Ecstasy, '  Florimel,  Gallatea,  Genevieve, 
Georgina,  Golden  Lassie,  Grace,  Happi- 
ness, Hebe  C.,  Lady  Bredwell,  Lady 
Brenda,  Lady  Charming,  Lady  Plush- 
coat,  Nannette,  Peace  and  Pure  Gold  are 
noteworthy. 

It  would  occupy  too  much  space  to 
chronicle  the  winnings  of  these  and 
other  sons  and  daughters  of  Corrector, 

—83— 


but  some  of  the  more  noteworthy  are  en- 
titled to  a  place  here.  Sir  Bredwell  63685 
and  Thickset  68685  have  met  with  the 
most  popular  favor  in  the  show  ring  of 
any  of  Corrector's  sons,  and  each  was  a 
grand  specimen  of  the  breed.  Each  of 
these  won  many  prizes  at  the  most 
prominent  American  shows.  However,  in 
1898  at  the  Transmississippi  exposition, 
Sir  Bredwell  was  first  prize  aged  bull, 
while  Thickset  was  the  second  prize  2- 
3rear  Hereford  bull.  At  this  same  show 
Sir  Bredwell,  Thickset,  Benefice  78825 
and  Silence  83690  won  first  place  as  four 
best  animals,  get  of  one  bull,  while  Sir 
Bredwell  and  Benefice  won  first  as  pro- 
duce of  one  cow,  they  having  Beatrice 
8036  for.  dam.  In  1899  Sir  Bredwell  sold 
at  auction  for  $5,000  to  Colonel  C.  C. 
Slaughter  of  Texas.  Thickset  had  a 
rather  remarkable  show  ring  record  and 
was  repeatedly  made  first  in  class  and 
champion  bull  at  great  shows.  At  the 
Iowa  state  fair  in  1898  he  was  champion 
Hereford  bull  'any  age,  and  senior  cham- 
pion at  the  Minnesota  state  fair.  In  1899 
at  the  Illinois  state  fair  he  was  second 
'in  class,  but  was  champion  over  all  breeds 
at  the  Minnesota  state  fair  the  same  sea- 
son. In  1900  he  was  sold  at  auction  for 
$5,100  to  William  Humphrey  of  Ne- 
braska. Thickset  was  a  wonderfully 
smooth  bull  of  considerable  size  and  very 
superior  type  and  was  first  shown  as  a 
calf  in  1896.  Protection  58568  is  another 
famous  show  animal  by  Corrector,  hav- 
ing won  many  prizes  of  the  first  class  in 
the  shows  of  1895  and  1896.  Sir  Come- 
well  68776  won  prizes  in  1896  at  the  Min- 
nesota, Iowa  and  St.  Louis  shows,  and 
later  in  1899  sold  at  auction  for  $1,600. 
Grandee  78839  won  various  prizes  at  the 
shows  of  1898  and  1899,  and  sold  at  auc- 
tion March  1,  1900,  at  $1,500.  Exemplar 
63671,  shown  with  success  at  the  Minne- 
sota, Wisconsin  and  Illinois  state  fairs 
in  1895,  sold  the  next  year  at  auction  at 
$500  and  later  at  $1,550.  In  1899  Check- 
mate 93981  was  successfully  shown  at  the 
National  Hereford  show  and  at  the  Iowa 
and  Minnesota  state  fairs. 

Of  the  daughters  of  Corrector  much 
might  be  said.  They  possessed  much 
style  and  carried  broad  backs,  deep  ribs 
and  represented  the  best  type  of  the 
breed.  Benefice  78825  was  champion  over 
all  breeds  at  the  Minnesota  state  fair 
in  1899:  Benita  58542,  the  dam  of  the  fa- 
mous Benison  64017,  has  a  long  string  of 

—84— 


prizes  to  her  credit;  Lady  Charming  63672 
is  not  only. a  champion  show  cow,  but  a 
successful  breeder,  being  dam  of  Claris- 
sima;  Grace  58553,  the  dam  of  Exemplar, 
was  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  suc- 
cessful show  daughters  of  Corrector. 

One  of  the  most  impressive  methods  of 
demonstrating  the  breeding  value  of  an 
animal  is  shown  in  the  results  of  the 
sales  of  his  offspring.  So  far  as  the 
writer  is  aware,  no  bull  in  America  has 
given  such  financial  showing  in  his  get 
as  has  Corrector.  From  1894  to  1903,  in- 
clusive, 104  Corrector  bulls  sold  for  $45,- 
F20,  and  85  females  for  $32,920,  a  total  of 
$78,440,  an  average  of  $415  each.  The 
highest  price  paid  for  any  one  of  these 
was  $5,100  for  Thickset.  From  1894  up 
there  is  an  interesting  and  gradual  in-" 
crease  in  the  yearly  average  price  re- 
ceived for  these  Corrector  animals,  a 
striking  tribute  to  his  worth.  A  peculiar 
feature  connected  with  the  sale  of  these 
cattle  is  that,  with  two  exceptions,  they 
w?re  all  sold  at  public  auction  in  annual 
FfOes  held  by  Mr.  Sotham,  thus  con- 
stituting a  record  unique  in  American 
cattle  history.  In  a  personal  letter  to 
the  writer  Mr.  Sotham  says:  "A  con- 
siderably better  showing  could  be  made 
if  the  prices  received  for  Corrector  cat- 
tle sold  by  other  parties  was  included 
in  this  table.  For  instance,  I  sold  the 
heifer  Happiness  for  $1,050  to  Clem 
Graves,  who  resold  her  for  $2,650.  I  sold 
the  bull  Sir  Comewell  to  Grant  Horna- 
day  for  $840,  who  resold  him  for  $1,600, 
and  I  might  multiply  a  great  many  cases 
where  hundreds  and  even  thousands  of 
dollars  were  made  on  the  subsequent 
sale  of  Corrector's  get." 

A  fine  double  page  colored  plate  of  Cor- 
rector, reproduced  from  an  oil  painting 
by  J.  W.  Hills,  the  well  known  live  stock 
artist,  illustrates  the  Breeder's  Gazette 
for  March  30,  1898,  while  a  smaller  one 
of  the  same  is  a  frontispiece  in  a  treatise 
on  Hereford  cattle  published  by  Mr. 
Sotham.  Miller's  "History  of  Hereford 
Cattle"  also  contains  a  colored  copy  of 
this  same  picture. 

A  careful  survey  of  the  facts  must 
demonstrate  the  remarkable  prepotency 
of  Corrector  and  the  igreat  value  of  his 
blood  to  Mr.  Sotham  and  the  Hereford 
breed.  America  has  not  lacked  for  great 
Hereford  breeding  and  show  bulls,  and 
certainly  Corrector  stands  at  the  fore- 
front an  honor  to  the  breed  and  his 
breeder. 

—85— 


XXIII      YOUNG  ABBOTSBURN  110679 


In  1874  Joseph  Thomson  of  Whitby,  On- 
tario, Canada,  imported  a  Shorthorn  cow 
known  as  Village  Bud.  She  was  bred  by 
Amos  Cruickshank  at  Sittyton  and  was 
sired  by  Scotland's  Pride  (25100)  of 
Cruickshank  breeding.  This  cow  was  in 
calf  at  importation  to  Ben  Wyvis  (30528) 
and  in  Thomson's  sale  she  brought  $925, 
being  bought  by  J.  &  W.  B.  Watt  of 
Salem,  Ont.  In  their  possession  she 
dropped  a  roan  heifer  calf  which  was 
named  Village  Blossom.  She  developed 
into  a  thick-fleshed,  broad-backed,  low- 
down  sort  and  found  much  favor  later  in 
prominent  Canadian  show  rings.  In  1883 
J.  I.  Davidson  had  imported  a  bull 
named  Abbotsburn  (47312)  106090,  bred  by 
Cruickshank,  which  the  Watts  purchased 
and  bred  to  Village  Blossom,  and  on 
March  2,  1885,  she  dropped  a  roan  bull 
calf  which  was  named  Young  Abbotsburn 
110679. 

A  little  further  reference  to  the  ances- 
try of  this  calf  is  here  desirable.  His 
sire,  Abbotsburn,  was  by  Roan  Gauntlet, 
one  of  the  really  great  Scotch  sires,  also 
the  sire  of  Field  Marshal  (47870),  bred 
by  Cruickshank  and  later  owned  by  Wil- 
liam Duthie  and  also  used  for  some  time 
in  the  herd  of  Queen  Victoria  at  Wind- 
sor. Ben  Wyvis,  the  sire  of  Village  Blos- 
som, was  by  Caesar  Augustus  (25704),  a 
prize  winner  on  the  other  side  of  the 
water,  while  Butterfly's  Joy,  the  dam 
of  Ben  Wyvis,  is  descended  from  the 
Towneley  Butterflys,  a  tribe  of  Short- 
horns that  has  produced  many  prize 
winners.  On  the  dam's  side  Young  Ab- 
botsburn traces  back  to  Picotee,  by 
Premier  (6308),  a  cow  of  much  char- 
acter that  at  10  years  of  age  was  a  first 
prize  cow  at  Aberdeen.  Picotee  was  a 
daughter  of  Sunflower,  by  Unicorn 
(8725).  This  pedigree  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch  presents  very  strong  Cruick- 
shank breeding  on  both  sides,  while  the 
records  show  that  he  is  descended  from 
many  great  prize  winners. 

When  about  7  months  old  Young  Ab- 
botsburn was  purchased  for  $200  by 
Alexander  Norrie  of  Paisley,  Ont.,  an 
excellent  judge  of  cattle,  who  owned  him 
for  four  years.  In  his  possession  he  was 

—86— 


shown  at  local  fairs  as  a  yearling  and  2- 
year-old,  and  met  with  considerable  fa- 
vor. He  was  used  in  his  herd  and  others 
in  the  neighborhood  and  bred  well.  Al- 
though the  Messrs.  Watt  had  not  spe- 
cially regarded  this  bull  as  of  unusual 
promise  as  a  calf  while  in  their  herd, 
rumors  later  came  to  them  of 
his  considerable  merit.  Norrie  'had 
given  him  good  care,  and  when  he 
sold  out  in  1889  the  Watts  attend- 
ed the  sale  and  purchased  Young 
Abbotsburn.  About  this  time  Colonel  T. 
S.  Moberley  of  Forest  Grove  herd,  Rich- 
mond, Ky.,  was  casting  about  for  a  bull 
to  head  his  herd  that  would  be  of  the 
very  highest  show  type.  He  made  a  trip 
to  Canada  in  1890,  where  he  saw  this  bull 
and  purchased  him  for  $425,  believing 
that  he  had  found  not  only  a  breeder, 
but  also  a  show  animal  of  great  pos- 
sibilities. Soon  after  his  purchase  Colo- 
nel Moberley  was  asked  what  he  was 
going  to  do  with  him,  to  which  he  re- 
sponded: "Use  him  a  little  and  show  him 
'right  smart.'  " 

The  first  appearance  of  Young  Abbots- 
burn  in  the  show  ring  on  this  side  of  the 
line  occurred  at  the  Detroit  International 
Exposition  in  September,  1890.  Here  he' 
was  shown  as  a  sort  of  "dark  horse,"  as 
it  were,  his  name  not  being  .given  out 
to  the  public,  and  so  he  was  referred  to 
as  "the  great  unknown."  His  high  char- 
acter was  at  once  seen  at  this  show, 
where  he  won  first  in  class.  The  next 
week  at  the  Michigan  state  fair  at  Lan- 
sing he  was  first  in  class.  In  contin- 
uing the  circuit  that  season  he  was  first 
in  class  at  the  state  fairs  of  Ohio,  In- 
diana and  Illinois,  winning  the  grand 
sweepstakes  at  the  latter  show,  over  all 
beef  breeds,  competing  against  the  Here- 
ford Cherry  Boy  and  the  Angus  Errant 
Knight,  both  show  bulls  of  the  first  class. 
Young  Abbotsburn  was  the  sensation  or 
the  season,  and  well  the  writer  remem- 
bers his  appearance  on  the  fair  grounds 
at  Indianapolis  and  the  talk  caused 
thereby. 

Young  Abbotsburn  soon  demonstrated 
that  he  was  the  most  remarkable  Short- 
horn show  bull  that  America  had  seen 
in  a  generation,  if  not  more.  At  Peoria 
he  vanquished  without  trouble  Cupbear- 
er (52692),  who  for  several  years  had 
been  invincible.  No  aged  bull  of  any 
sort  seemed  capable  of  winning  the  cov- 
eted prize  for  which  this  champion  com- 

—87—    • 


peted.  In  1891  he  was  first  in  class  and 
sweepstakes  aged  bull,  over  all  beef 
breeds  at  the  state  fairs  of  Iowa,  Min- 
nesota and  Illinois,  not  showing  else- 
where on  the  circuit.  In  1892  he  was 
first  in  class  at  the  Iowa  state  fair  at 
Des  Moines.  first  in  class,  and  winner  of 
grand  sweepstakes  at  Nebraska  state, 
second  in  class,  yet  winner  of  grand 
sweepstakes  at  Indiana  state,  and  first 
in  class  and  winner  of  grand  sweepstakes 
at  the  Illinois  state  fair  at  Peoria.  In 
1893  Young  Abbotsburn  was  at  the  head 
of  Colonel  Moberley's  herd  at  the  World's 
Columbian  Exposition  at  Chicago,  where 
he  was  declared  the  best  aged  Shorthorn 
bull,  the  best  Shorthorn  bull  of  any  age 
and  the  grand  sweepstakes  bull  over  all 
beef  breeds,  with  Ancient  Briton,  the 
Hereford  champion,  placed  next  below 
him  and  Gay  Monarch  third.  Here  closed 
the  show  yard  career  of  this  great  bull, 
defeated  but  once  in  the  United  States 
and  then  in  competition  with  Gay  Mon- 
arch, judged  by  Joseph  Rippey,  a  local 
Indiana  Shorthorn  breeder,  whose  judg- 
ment on  this  occasion  received  no  sup- 
port excepting  from  partisan  or  super- 
ficial observers.  The  real  judges  of  the 
ringside,  not  lacking  in  regard  for  the 
high  merit  of  Gay  Monarch,  knew  that 
bad  judgment  had  been  displayed  on  that 
occasion. 

Laudation  of  the  highest  sort  was  be- 
stowed on  this  champion  in  his  day,  and 
it  is  doubtful  if  much  of  it  was  over- 
drawn. No  animal  as  an  individual  is 
perfect,  yet  Young  Abbotsburn  presented 
much  that  must  be  recognized  as  found 
in  the  ideal  beef  type.  He  was  massive  in 
form,  weighing  up  to  2800  pounds,  broad, 
deep,  square  at  ends,  thick  and  full  at 
flanks,  broad  in  the  chest,  thick  in  hind 
quarter,  short  of  leg  and  in  his  prime 
very  smoothly  covered  with  a  great  layer 
of  flesh  and  hide  of  most  superior  sub- 
stance and  quality.  In  a  slight  degree 
he  lacked  in  breed  character,  yet  he  was 
not  open  to  important  criticism  on  this 
account.  He  did  have,  as  he  was,  a  dis- 
tinctive feeder's  head.  He  stood  square 
on  his  feet,  a  monument  of  living  flesh, 
a  feed  lot  model.  In  spite  of  his  great 
weight  Young  Abbotsburn  was  unusual- 
ly active  on  his  feet  for  such  size.  In 
March,  1894,  the  writer,  with  a  party  of 
live  stock  students,  paid  a  visit  to  Rich- 
mond and  to  Colonel  Moberley's  farm. 
In  the  inspection  of  the  stock  Young  Ab- 


botsburn  came  in  for  the  lion's  share  of 
attention,  as  might  have  been  expected. 
Finally  when  through,  in  reply  to  the 
question,  "How  active  is  he?"  Forbes, 
the  herdsman,  heading  him  down  the 
lane,  took  the  strap  he  had  been  holding 
him  by  and  slapped  him  over  the  rump, 
upon  which  he  trotted  off  down  the  lane 
with  astonishing  lightness  and  ease,  a 
surprise  to  all  present. 

In  commenting  on  the  character  of  this 
bull  A.  H.  Sanders,  one  of  the  ablest 
Shorthorn  students  living,  wrote  at  the 
time  of  Young  Abbotsburn's  death:  "As 
a  feeder's  type  Young  Abbotsburn  has 
probably  had  no  peer  in  this  generation. 
Possessed  of  great  scale,  an  iron  consti- 
tution, digestive  and  assimilative  pow- 
ers of  the  highest  order,  and  traditional 
Cruickshank  depth  of  rib  and  shortness 
of  leg,  he  developed  under  skillful  feed- 
ing into  the  heaviest  bull  of  his  height 
known  to  American  Shorthorn  records. 
Other  bulls  have  had  as  good  backs, 
other  bulls  have  had  ribs  that  sprung 
with  more  perfect  arch,  and  other  bulls 
have  shown  more  perfect  breeding  char- 
acter in  their  heads,  but  when  it  came  to 
depth  and  fullness  at  all  the  special 
feeding  points,  the  bulging  neck  veins, 
the  low,  heavy  flanks,  the  generous  mid- 
dle piece,  the  thick,  wide  twist,  and  the 
Dlacid  temperament,  the  old  bull  never 
had  nor  does  he  now  leave  a  rival.  As 
a  feed  lot  pattern  Young  Abbotsburn 
measured  up  to  the  highest  standards  set 
by  Mr.  Cruickshank." 

In  the  summer  of  1894,  Colonel  Mober- 
ley,  most  unfortunate  for  Shorthorn  in- 
terests, was  drowned  at  Virginia  Beach, 
Va.,  while  nobly  rescuing  his  daughter 
from  a  watery  grave.  His  death  resulted 
in  the  selling  of  the  Forest  Grove  herd 
at  executor's  pale  on  Oct.  23,  1895,  when 
Young  Abbotsburn  and  four  of  his  sons 
and  seventeen  of  his  daughters  were  dis- 
posed of  with  the  rest  of  the  herd.  The 
old  bull  was  nurchased  by  T.  J.  Wallace 
of  Bunceton,  Mo.,  for  $475,  in  whose  pos- 
se=sion  he  remained  until  Feb.  4,  1898, 
when  he  died. 

Young  Abbotsburn  had  been  something 
of  a  disappointment  as  a  breeder,  yet  he 
sired  a  number  of  animals  of  much  merit. 
His  daughter,  Mary  Abbotsburn  7th,  in 
the  hands  of  Aaron  Barber  of  New  York, 
proved  to  be  one  of  the  greatest  show 
cows  of  the  latter  part  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  She  made  her  first  appearance  in 

—89— 


the  show  ring  in  1892,  as  a  calf,  when 
she  won  first  place  at  Des  Moines  in  a 
ring  of  fourteen.  For  years  she  had  a 
remarkable  show  ring  record.  Mary  Ab- 
botsburns  1st,  2d  and  4th  were  also  cows 
of  merit  and  winners  in  the  show  ring. 
A  son  of  Young  Abbotsburn  named  The 
Corker,  out  of  May  Belle,  by  2d  Duke 
of  Hillsdale  51071,  was  purchased  by  T. 
R.  Westrope  &  Son  at  the  dispersal  sale 
for  $500.  Extreme  financial  depression 
alone  at  the  time  of  the  Moberley  sale 
is  no  doubt  the  cause  for  the  low  prices 
secured.  At  the  death  of  Young  Abbots- 
burn  it  is  said  there  were  eight  bulls  and 
thirteen  heifers  by  him  in  the  Wallace 
herd.  This  herd  was  disposed  of  on  May 
17,  1900,  at  Kansas  City,  by  public  sale, 
when  nine  of  his  sons  and  daughters  sold 
for  $2,075,  an  average  of  $230  per  head. 
Two  sons,  Sir  Abbot  128850  and  Butterfly 
Abbotsburn  144508,  that  have  been  re- 
ferred to  as  of  much  excellence,  were 
catalogued  for  the  sale.  Four  days  prior 
to  its  occurrence  Sir  Abbot  suddenly 
died,  while  the  other  son  was  purchased 
at  $600  by  J.  H.  McCuHough  of  Dayton, 
Mo. 

The  career  of  Young  Abbotsburn  in  the 
show  ring  was  all  the  most  ardent  could 
have  wished  for.  As  a  breeder,  however, 
he  did  not  meet  all  expectations.  With 
a  pedigree  of  merit,  carrying  the  blood  of 
many  prize  winners,  it  was  reasonable  to 
look  for  the  transmission  of  his  many 
good  qualities  to  his  offspring.  That  he 
did  not  so  transmit  them  to  a  notable 
extent  may  be  due  to  his  high  condition 
of  living  and  show  ring  career,  or  to 
yet  other  factors  \vhich  we  are  unable 
to  comprehend.  Yet  a  record  of  nearly 
twenty  years  shows  but  few  noteworthy 
animals  descended  from  Young  Abbots- 
burn  besides  Mary  Abbotsburn  7th.  In 
spite  of  this  fact  he  will  always  be  en- 
titled to  a  place  among  the  really  famous 
bulls  of  the  breed. 


—90— 


XXIV 


LADY  OF  MEADOWBROOK 


21466 


Many  a  beautiful  cow  has  been  graced 
with  the  title  of  Lady.  The  history  of 
the  English  show  yard  and  breeding  herd 
records  more  than  one  Lady  of  fame, 
among  which  might  be  mentioned  Lady 
Fragrant,  Lady  in  Waiting,  Grand  Lady, 
Lady  Sarah  and  Red  Lady,  while  in 
America  Lady  Charming,  Lady  Plush- 
coat,  Lady  Superior  and  yet  others  are 
among  the  elect.  On'  this  side  of 
the  Atlantic,  however,  no  individual  of 
the  bovine  race  is  better  entitled  to  this 
name  than  the  Aberdeen-Angus  cow 
Lady  of  Meadowbrook  21466. 

Lady  of  Meadowbrook  21466  was  bred 
by  D.  Bradfute  &  Son,  Meadowbrook 
farm,  Cedarville,  Greene  county, Ohio,  and 
was  calved  on  Dec.  It, MM.  Her  sire  was 
Zaire  5th  13067,  a  son  of  the  well-known 
Black  Abbot  10423.  Zaire  5th  for  some 
ten  years  was  a  prominent  prize  winner 
at  the  great  shows  in  the  United  States 
and  has  repeatedly  been  referred  to  as 
one  of  the  greatest  of  the  modern  show 
and  breeding  Angus  bulls,  for  he  has 
sired  many  most  excellent  animals.  He 
was  short  of  leg,  broad  of  back,  square 
and  full  both  in  front  and  behind,  and 
was  heavily  fleshed  when  in  good  condi- 
tion. At  this  writing,  early  in  1904,  Zaire 
5th  is  still  in  active  service  in  an  Ohio 
herd  at  the  age  of  15  years. 

The  dam  of  Lady  was  Lavender  of 
Meadowbrook  15697,  a  cow  of  much  merit 
that  won  many  prizes,  including  first  in 
aged  class  at  the  Ohio  and  Illinois  state 
fairs  in  1898.  As  a  5-year-old  she  weighed 
1900  pounds  and  possessed  a  beautiful 
front,  unusually  fine  top  and  bottom 
lines,  with  a  wealth  of  flesh  smoothly 
laid  on.  She  was  known  on  the  circuit  as 
an  extra  fine  cow.  Lady  of  Meadowbrook 
is  three  generations  descended  from  Ab- 
botsford  2702  on  the  sire's  side,  while  on 
the  dam's  side  she  goes  back  to  imp. 
Lovelock  4th  6046,  a  prize  winner  at  the 
Ohio  state  fair,  as  grandam,  with  Love- 
lock 2889  as  great-grandam  and  Laven- 
der 2890  as  igreat-great-grandam. 

As  a  calf  Lady  of  Meadowbrook  did  not 
particularly  attract  attention,  and  at  the 
New  York  state  fair  in  1895  she  was  third 
in  the  Angus  calf  class,  being  also  third 

—91— 


at  the  Illinois  state  the  same  season.  At 
this  stage  of  her  development  she  was 
referred  to  as  "very  sweet  and  chunky." 

As  a  yearling  the  writer  can  find  no 
record  of  Lady  being  shown,  but  as  a 
2-year-old  in  1897  she  was  third  in  class 
at  the  Illinois  state  fair,  while  she  was 
also  placed  higher  up  in  other  fairs  this 
season,  in  which  she  met  no  opposition 
outside  the  local  herd.  This  season  she 
.was  shown  along  with  her  dam,  with 
which  she  was  often  compared,  she  hav- 
ing her  mother's  full  bosom,  great  spring 
of  rib,  full  flanks,  deep  twist  and  great 
size.  In  1898  Lady  of  Me.adowbrook  be- 
gan to  show  her  true  colors.  She  was 
classed  as  the  best  Aberdeen -Angus  fe- 
male in  class  at  the  state  fairs  of  In- 
diana, Wisconsin  and  the  St.  Louis  ex- 
position, and  was  made  champion  cow 
of  the  breed  at  Wisconsin  and  St.  Louis 
shows.  She  was  placed  second  to  her 
mother  in  class  at  the  Illinois  show  at 
Peoria.  This  same  season,  in  1898,  the- 
Bradfute  herd  invaded  Kentucky  to  com- 
pete for  the  class  and  herd  champion- 
ships at  the  Shelbyville  show.  This 
was  the  first  Aberdeen-Angus  exhibit 
south  of  the  Ohio  river.  The  Bradfutes 
had  carefully  considered  making  this 
trip,  as  it  meant  an  invasion  of  Short- 
horn territory  of  the  most  pronounced 
type.  A  committee  of  Shorthorn  men 
acted  as  judges,  and  during  the  bull 
competition  the  Shorthorns  had  the  ad- 
vantage. 

When  the  female  classes  came  on  a 
sensation  occurred  with  the  entrance  of 
Lady  of  Meadowbrook  into  the  ring.  Her 
outstanding  merit  was  at  once  recog- 
nized and  she  was  made  first  prize  win- 
ner. The  2-year-old  and  yearling  prizes 
were  won  by  Shorthorns,  while  a  Brad- 
fute heifer  calf  won  first  in  class.  In 
the  lining  up  in  the  herd  competition 
great  excitement  prevailed,  for  only 
Shorthorns  had  heretofore  won  beef  herd 
prizes  in  this  section.  The  superior  ex- 
cellence of  the  Bradfute  cattle,  with  the 
great  Lady  of  Meadowbrook  at  the  head 
of  the  female  classes,  would  not  be 
downed,  and  amid  much  excitement  and 
applause  the  Aberdeen-Angus  herd  was 
made  champion. 

In  1899  Lady  of  Meadowbrook  was 
first-prize  and  champion  cow  at  the 
Ohio,  Wisconsin  and  Indiana  state  fairs 
and  the  St.  Louis  show,  and  was  first 
in  class  at  the  Illinois  state  fair.  At  the 

—92— 


latter  show  she  was  defeated  for  cham- 
pionship by  Lucia  of  Estill,  a  smaller 
type  of  cow,  and  of  much  merit,  yet 
lacking  the  scale  and  thickness  of  flesh 
of  Lady. 

In  1900  Lady  of  Meadowbrook  made 
her  last  campaign  in  the  show  ring, 
winning  first  in  class  at  the  Ohio,  Wis- 
consin, Indiana  and  Illinois  state  fairs 
and  the  St.  Louis  exposition.  She  was 
also  made  champion  cow  at  the  Wis- 
consin, Indiana  and  St.  Louis  shows. 
At  this  time  she  weighed  about  2000 
pounds.  At  the  International  Live  Stock 
Exposition  in  December  she  was  made 
champion  Angus  cow,  but  as  she  did  not 
deliver  a  live  calf  within  the  specified 
time  the  prize  money  was  refunded  ac- 
cording to  the  rule.  At  the  time,  how- 
ever, nobody  questioned  her  right  to  win. 
Thus  closed  the  show  yard  career  of 
what  is  unquestionably  one  of  the  great- 
est American-bred  Aberdeen- Angus  show 
cows  that  has  been  seen  in  America. 
Her  merit  was  unquestioned.  She  was 
more  often  than  not  judged  by  men  of 
other  breeds,  and  they  never  failed  to 
recognize  her  merit.  One  year  when 
she  was  mad'e  grand  champion  cow  at 
the  Indiana  state  fair  at  Indianapolis 
a  committee  of  three  placed  the  ribbons- 
consisting  of  George  Allen  and  J.  H. 
Pickrell,  Shorthorn  breeders,  and  David 
McKay,  of  Galloway  affiliations.  When 
the  judges'  book  was  being  signed  Mr. 
Pickrell,  one  of  America's  most  distin- 
guished Shorthorn  authorities  and  then 
secretary  of  the  American  Shorthorn 
association,  stepped  up  to  the  cow  and 
said:  "I  want  to  sign  my  name  with 
the  book  lying  on  the  back  of  the  best 
cow  I  ever  saw." 

In  some  of  the  shows  where  Lady  was 
shown  she  had  for  company  some  of  the 
famous  females  of  other  breeds,  of  which 
Ruberta,  the  Shorthorn  queen,  and  Dolly 
5th  of  Hereford  fame  are  fitting  ex- 
amples. 

As  a  breeder  Lady  of  Meadowbrook 
has  not  been  a  failure,  neither  has  she 
been  the  success  anticipated.  She  has 
had  but  one  daughter,  Lady  2d  of 
Meadowbrook  36954,  which  was  the  first- 
prize  2-year-old  heifer  at  the  Pan-Ameri- 
can Exposition  at  Buffalo.  Lady  had 
one  bull  calf  which  was  lost  through 
no  fault  of  hers.  She  carried  another 
five  months  and  lost  it. 

Lady  of  Meadowbrook  still  resides 
upon  the  farm  of  her  birth,  along  with 

—93— 


three  sisters  of  merit.  She  refuses  to 
thin  down  and  reduce  to  desirable  breed- 
ing form,  but  serves  as  a  living  model 
of  how  a  high-class  breeding  and  show 
cow  should  appear.  She  has  brought 
much  of  fame  to  her  breeders  and  to 
the  breed,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that 
she  may  yet  leave  a  legacy  to  Meadow- 
brook  that  will  add  still  greater  laurels 
to  their  well-known  herd. 


—94— 


XXV 


SCOTTISH  STANDARD  (6488) 


15221 


The  Galloway  is  one  of  the  rather  im- 
portant beef  breeds  of  cattle  that  is 
comparatively  little  known  outside  of 
Scotland.  These  cattle  were  first  brought 
to  America  and  to  Canada  perhaps  fifty 
years  ago,  and  about  1870  were  brought 
into  the  United  States.  Not,  however, 
until  within  a  comparatively  few  years 
has  the  breed  really  attracted  attention, 
while  our  cattle  literature  and  live  stock 
journals  give  one  but  scanty  informa- 
tion concerning  the  Galloway  from  any 
point  of  view.  Five  years,  however,  have 
seen  a  change,  and  to-day  in  the  Mis- 
sissippi valley  and  far  west  Galloway 
cattle  are  receiving  gratifying  attention. 
Yet  from  the  historical  point  of  view 
Americans  know  little  of  individuals  of 
this  breed. 

Scottish  Standard  (6488)  15221  was  bred 
by  C.  Graham  of  Harelawhill,  Canonbie, 
Scotland,  and  was  calved  on  April  5, 
1895.  His  sire  was  The  Pathfinder  3d 
(5991),  while  his  dam  was  Gentle  Rose 
2d  (13029).  The  Pathfinder  3d  not  only 
bred  some  very  fine  animals,  but  was 
himself  a  first-prize  winner  at  the  High- 
land and  Agricultural  Society  show  and 
the  Royal  of  England  and  some  others. 
Camp  Follower  (5042),  the  sire  of  the 
dam  of  Scottish  Standard,  is  one  of  the 
famous  names  among  prize-winning 
Highland  and  Royal  show  Galloway 
sires.  Baroness  2d  of  Tarbreoch  21280, 
the  first-prize  aged  Galloway  cow  at  the 
1902  International  Live  Stock  Exposi- 
tion and  at  the  1901  Highland  show,  was 
a  daughter  of  his.  Dora  of  Durhamhill 
(13550),  by  Camp  Follower,  was  a  cham- 
pion at  both  Highland  and  Royal  shows. 
Louisa  2d  of  Durhamhill  (14925),  another 
daughter,  won  the  breed  championship 
and  gold  medal  for  the  best  Galloway 
at  the  1898  Highland  show.  Scottish 
Farmer  (6628)  was  also  a  prize-winning 
son  and  champion. 

Scottish  Standard  was  imported  by 
Brookside  farm,  J.  H.  Bass,  proprietor, 
Fort  Wayne,  Ind.,  in  1899.  Before  ex- 
portation he  had  not  only  sired  some 
great  show  animals,  but  had  also  won 
the  following  prizes  in  Scotland  and 
England:  In  1896,  as  a  yearling,  he  was 
first  at  the  Carlisle  bull  show,  and  also 

—95— 


at  the  Castle  Douglas  Agricultural  show. 
In  1897  he  -won  first  prizes  at  Castle 
Douglas,  Dalbeattie,  Scotland;  Highland 
and  Agricultural  society  of  Scotland  at 
Glasgow,  and  the  Royal  Agricultural 
Society  of  England  show  at  Manchester. 
At  the  two  latter  shows  he  was  also 
awarded  medals  for  being  the  best  Gal- 
loway bull  exhibited.  In  1898  Scottish 
Standard  was  placed  first  at  Castle 
Douglas,  the  Dumfries  Union,  and  at  the 
Highland  and  Agricultural  at  Kelso, 
Scotland;  also  at  the  Royal  Agricultural 
Society  of  England  show  at  Birming- 
ham. He  also  won  medals  at  both  High- 
land and  Royal  shows.  In  1899  he  again 
won  premier  place  at  Castle  Douglas 
and  the  Royal  Agricultural  Society  of 
England  at  Maidstone,  winning  a  medal 
also  at  the  latter  exhibition.  This  same 
season  he  was  imported  to  America  to 
head  the  Brookside  farm  herd. 

In  the  United  States  this  bull  has  not 
been  extensively  shown.  In  1901  he  made 
a  number  of  the  more  important  state 
fairs,  but  was  not  in  the  best  flesh,  and 
so  did  not  obtain  the  coveted  first  place. 
At  the  Indiana  state  fair  he  was  placed 
second,  at  the  Illinois  state  third  and 
at  the  International  Live  Stock  Exposi- 
tion at  Chicago  also  third.  His  chief 
competitors  on  this  circuit  were  the  im- 
ported bulls  Druid  of  Castlemilk  17054 
and  Muscosis  3d.  Scottish  Standard  was 
not  presented  in  as  high  flesh  and  bloom 
as  his  competitors,  and  so  did  not  secure 
the  recognition  he  might  have  won 
otherwise.  Scottish  Standard  showed 
himself  to  be  a  level-backed,  blocky, 
deep-bodied,  short-legged,  grand-headed 
type  of  the  breed,  covered  with  a  beau- 
tiful coat  of  hair.  Good  critics  this  sea- 
son counted  him  the  best  type  of  the 
three  bulls  mentioned,  each  of  which  was 
of  unusual  excellence  and  international 
reputation.  The  Breeder's  Gazette  cor- 
respondent, reviewing  the  International 
Galloway  show,  wrote:  "No  attempt  has 
been  made  to  finish  him  for  this  com- 
petition, and  yet  the  grand  type  of  the 
bull,  his  head  of  outstanding  character, 
his  closeness  to  the  ground  and  his  fin- 
ish warrant  the  honors  he  has  attained 
and  qualify  him  for  any  contest  for 
which  he  may  be  prepared." 

Before  his  importation  to  the  United 
States,  Scottish  Standard  began  to  show 
his  worth  as  a  breeder,  although  his 
show-ring  career  was  of  great  eminence. 
His  son  McDougal  4th  of  Tarbreoch  18300 

—96— 


(6841),  out  of  Maggie  of  Tarbreoch  (8613), 
was  imported  to  this  country  in  1900, 
where  he  obtained  great  distinction  in 
the  show  ring  on  many  occasions  and 
sold  at  auction  in  Chicago  at  $2,050 — the 
highest  price  ever  paid  for  a  Galloway 
in  America.  At  the  1901  International 
McDougal  4th  of  Tarbreoch  stood  second, 
one  place  above  his  sire,  in  the  aged  bull 
class. 

In  his  great  value  as  a  sire  Scottish 
Standard  stands  as  the  greatest  Gallo- 
way bull  that  has  yet  lived  in  America, 
and  no  doubt  as  one  of  the  most  prepo- 
tent of  the  breed  in  any  land.  The  im- 
portance of  this  great- bull  as  a  breeder 
can  be  in  part  seen  in  the  following  show 
yard  record  of  his  progeny  in  the  United 
States.  Scottish  Standard  1st  18538  is 
perhaps  his  greatest  son.  In  1901  he  was 
the  first  prize  Galloway  bull  calf  at  the 
Indiana  and  Illinois  state  fairs  and  fourth 
at  the  International.  As  a  yearling,  in 
1902,  he  won  first  place  at  the  Wiscon- 
sin, Indiana,  Iowa  and  Minnesota  state 
fairs  and  at  the  International  Live  Stock 
Exposition,  and  was  also  junior  cham- 
pion Galloway  bull  at  these  shows.  In 
its  review  of  the  Iowa  state  fair  Gallo- 
way show,  referring  to  Scottish  Standard 
1st,  the  Breeder's  Gazette  said:  "Brook- 
side  boasts  one  of  the  greatest  sires 
known  to  the  breed  in  old  Scottish  Stand- 
ard, but  if  he  had  never  begotten  an- 
other calf  than  this  one  under  praise  he 
would  have  lived  in  history.  *  *  *  Of 
Galloway  type  and  character  this  fellow 
is  fully  master;  he  has  ample  scale, 
grand  levelness,  remarkable  width  and 
strength  of  back  and  fine  condition. 
When  he  fills  a  little  about  the  tail  head, 
as  he  probably  will,  there  will  tbe  as 
few  flaws  to  pick  in  him  as  any  repre- 
sentative of  the  breed  that  ever  stood 
before  the  public  on  this  side  the  water. 
Such  sweeping  compliment  does  not 
often  find  record  in  these  columns;  it  ap- 
pears only  when  the  facts  warrant  it." 
In  1903  Scottish  Standard  1st  was  first 
prize  2-year-old  Galloway  bull  at  the 
Indiana,  Illinois,  Minnesota  and  Iowa 
state  fairs,  and  at  the  Kansas  City  Royal 
show  and  at  the  International  Live  Stock 
Exposition.  In  these  shows  he  was  also 
champion.  McDougal  4th  of  Tarbreoch 
is  also  a  worthy  son  of  Scottish  Stand- 
ard. In  1901  he  was  second  in  class  at 
the  International  and  in  1902  first  prize 
aged  and  champion  at  Wisconsin,  Min- 

—97— 


nesota  and  Indiana  state  fairs,  and  sec- 
ond at  the  International  Exposition.  Pro- 
fessor Thomas  Shaw  is  credited  with 
saying  at  the  Minnesota  state  fair  that 
he  was  "one  of  the  best  types  of  the 
breed  he  ever  saw."  The  cow  Scottish 
Princess  1st  19335  is  one  of  Scottish 
Standard's  greatest  female  descendants. 
At  the  1901  International  she  won  first 
prize  in  class  and  champion  female.  Ii\ 
1902  as  a  yearling  at  the  state  fairs  she 
was  placed  third  at  Wisconsin,  sec- 
ond at  Indiana,  first  in  class  and 
junior  champion  at  Minnesota,  and 
was  third  at  the  Iowa  state  fair.  This 
season  she  won  four  blue  ribbons 
and  four  junior  championships.  In  1903 
she  was  first  prize  2-year-old  Galloway 
cow  at  the  Illinois  state  fair  and  was 
given  third  place  in  class  at  the  Inter- 
national Exposition.  She  is  a  female  of 
great  beauty  and  superior  breed  type. 

Scottish  Mist  19771,  another  daughter 
of  Scottish  Standard,  as  a  heifer  calf  in 
1902  either  stood  first  or  second  in  class 
at  all  the  fairs,  and  in  1903  she  divided 
honors  with  Scottish  Princess  2d  20905, 
her  half-sister,  for  first  place  at  the 
shows.  In  1903  a  popular  favorite  was 
Adelia  of  Brookside  22716,  a  heifer  calf 
by  Scottish  Standard,  she  being  made 
first  prize  winner  in  class  and  junior  fe- 
male champion  at  the  leading  fairs.  In 
1902  Standard  -Yet  19776  appeared  as  a 
bull  calf  in  the  ring  and  he  proved  very 
successful.  Two-In-One  197B5,  another 
son,  in  1903  made  a  creditable  show  as 
a  yearling. 

Scottish  Standard  has  proven  very  fer- 
tile as  a  breeder,  and  the  Brookside  herd 
has  relied  largely  on  him  for  its  show 
yard  winnings.  From  a  personal  letter 
to  the  author  from  Brookside  farm  the 
following  is  quoted:  "In  the  fall  of  1903 
we  took  with  us  to  the  following  fairs 
eleven  calves,  sired  by  Scottish  Stand- 
ard; the  fairs  were  at  Des  Moines,  Iowa; 
Hamline,  Minn.;  Springfield,  111.;  Indian- 
apolis, Ind. ;  American  Royal  at  Kansas 
City  and  the  International  at  Chicago.  At 
these  shows  we  with  our  eleven  calves 
won  forty-seven  first  prizes,  twenty-four 
second  prizes,  eighteen  third  prizes,  seven 
junior  championships  and  one  grand 
championship.  *  *  *  We  will  state 
that  the  animals  we  showed  this  fall 
were  all  Scottish  Standard  calves,  Scot- 
tish Standard  1st  being  our  2-year-old, 
Two-In-One  our  yearling  bull,  Scottish 

—98— 


Challenger  our  bull  calf,  and,  besides 
these,  Scottish  Princess  1st,  Scottish 
Mist,  Scottish  Maid  19768,  Scottish  Prin- 
cess 2d  20905,  Scottish  Empress  22715, 
Scottish  Jewel  B.  22723,  Adelia  of  Brook- 
side  and  Betty  Miller  18356.  Repeatedly 
Brookside  farm  was  awarded  first  prize 
on  our  four  animals,  get  of  one  sire,  and 
on  various  occasions  they  won  both  first 
and  second  places  with  his  sons  and 
daughters  in  groups  of  four." 

Scottish  Standard  is  yet  alive,  with  pos- 
sibly several  more  years  of  service.  There 
are  many  of  his  daughters  now  in  the 
Brookside  herd,  and  the  possibilities  of 
his  progeny  to  secure  still  greater  Gal- 
loway fame  is  beyond  estimation.  It  is 
highly  probable,  however,  that  future 
Galloway  records  in  America  will  be  re- 
markably impressed  with  the  blood  of 
this  great  bull.  It  is  doubtful  even  now 
if  the  offspring  of  a  single  bull  of  any 
breed  in  so  short  a  time  has  made  so 
strong  a  show  ring  record  as  has  Scot- 
tish Standard. 


-99— 


UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA 
BRANCH    OF    THE    COLLEGE    OF    AGRICULTURE 

THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


5m-8,'26 


185830 


Plumb . 


Little   si 


etches  of  f<* 


ous  "beef 


cattle. 


1858^0 

LIBRARY,  BRANCH  OF  THE  COLLEGE  OF  AGRICULTURE 


